APRA has joined the Virgin Blue Carbon Offset Program to neutralise emissions involved in business travel.The program involves two key elements.

• Guests who travel on Virgin Blue flights can voluntarily offset their share of carbon emissions generated from the flight by contributing towards Australian Greenhouse Office approved abatement projects such as forestry activities, energy efficiency measures, waste diversion and recycling and generation of renewable energy; and
  
• Virgin Blue has made a financial commitment to offset the greenhouse impacts of its own crew and staff travelling on company business.

This financial commitment, expected to be in the vicinity of AUD $500,000 annually, will then be channelled into abatement projects aimed at long term and permanent greenhouse gas reductions.

Virgin Blue is the first Australian airline and first transportation organisation in the country to be officially certified as “Greenhouse Friendly”.