20 November 2008: The first carbon neutral airline,
NatureAir of Costa Rica, has joined the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP)
Climate Neutral Network (CN Net).

NatureAir has improved its fuel efficiency by
seven percent in three years, and offsets its remaining emissions by purchasing
carbon credits from Costa Rica’s payment for environmental services scheme.
Costa Rica itself aims to be climate neutral by 2021, when it will celebrate
200 years of independence, and was among the first four countries to join CN
Net. UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner highlighted that the airline
industry contributes an “estimated three percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions – nearly as much as the entire African continent.”
He stressed the
importance that “solutions to the climate change challenge come from within the
industry itself.” [Climate
Neutral Network Press Release]