Carbon offsetting and compliance solutions provider Azzera has launched with services tailor-made for business aviation.

Carbon offsetting is the acquisition of credits that compensate for unavoidable carbon emissions. Credits are generally defined as compliance-based (obligatory) or voluntary. Both markets are highly complex and access can be very bureaucratic.

Azzera works with aircraft owners and operators to manage their participation in compliance programmes, including the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), Swiss ETS and UK ETS. Working on behalf of its clients, the Azzera team secures all necessary allowances and ensures that programme requirements are met and exceeded.

The company also provides direct access to the voluntary carbon offsetting market. Projects that permit clients to claim carbon neutrality are subject to rigorous due diligence before being selected by Azzera. Examples include ICAO Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)-eligible offsets.

Azzera will soon launch online services to calculate carbon footprints and roll out a fully-transparent blockchain-based marketplace for trading carbon credits to become the world's first centralised spot trading carbon market exchange. The company has already secured a technology investor/partner and more than $1 million in pre-seed funding.

Founded by Puja Mahajan and Nick Houseman, both business aviation veterans of over 25 years, the Azzera team have lived the challenges of measuring aircraft emissions and have developed sophisticated understandings of compliance-based and voluntary carbon markets.

“We launched Azzera because purchasing carbon offsets is complicated but investing in protecting our environment should be easy,” says CEO and founder Mahajan. “Today, there are more than 22,000 business jets operating worldwide, and the carbon emissions per passenger are significant. Some larger business aircraft operators have integrated carbon offsetting into their business models. But for small to midsize operators, selecting and implementing top-quality offset solutions can be very complicated. This is where we come in, by selecting and facilitating access to the highest quality carbon offset initiatives on the market.”

“We have a bold vision for enabling organisations and individuals to effortlessly fight climate change. Massive investment in carbon avoidance and removal projects is needed. We are facilitating that process. In the first phase, we are targeting business aviation, the industry we know best. In the mid-term, we will apply ourselves to a growing number of sectors. Any industry that generates GHGs is a potential client for Azzera,” adds co-founder Nick Houseman.