Travel Offset Program Overview
As detailed in Fast Forward: MIT's Climate Action Plan for the Decade, MIT is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and mitigating climate impacts. This includes carbon emissions from travel.
Achieving this commitment requires considerable effort and a range of creative options:
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Increasing awareness of the carbon cost associated with travel
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Educating our community about carbon pricing as an effective strategy for reducing climate impact
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Using pooled funds to support high-impact initiatives that decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Approach
To reduce the carbon footprint of MIT's business travel, key components of the Air Travel Carbon Offset Program include:
Pilot Participants: Initially, the program will be rolled out to three areas—MIT Sloan School of Management, the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P), and the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. At three and six months into the pilot, we will evaluate and adjust as needed prior to an anticipated rollout of the program across campus.
Voluntary Participation: We highly recommend that travelers who are part of the pilot consider offsetting MIT business travel emissions through the Air Travel Carbon Offset Program.
Feedback and Refinement: This is a pilot program designed to initiate the process of carbon offsetting air travel. We encourage participation and community feedback and will refine the program for broader adoption at the conclusion of the pilot.
Ongoing Review: We will collect data and gather feedback from program participants to improve the program. Once the pilot has concluded, we will share what we have learned with the Climate Nucleus and the participating departments.
Convenient Process: We have integrated the program into MIT's existing Buy-to-Pay (B2P) platform to make it easy for participants to purchase carbon offsets in the same way they purchase goods at MIT. Travelers should purchase carbon offsets after they complete a trip on MIT business. These purchases are non-refundable.
Organizational Collaboration: MIT is contracting with Climate Vault, a non-profit organization, to assist our carbon offset efforts. Climate Vault provides a clear and efficient way to offset air travel emissions by buying carbon permits from regulated government markets.
Contact
Have questions about the program or want to learn more? Email traveloffset@mit.edu