British Airways has launched a new carbon offset scheme that finances clean energy projects in developing countries. Customers offsetting flight emissions will support a wind farm in one of the poorest regions of China and run-of-the-river hydro-electric plants in China and Brazil.

Travellers can pay for the offset when they buy flights. British Airways will also back work led by Cambridge University into the non-CO2 effects of aviation.

See http://www.ba.com.

The winners of the 2007 Responsible Travel Awards have been announced.

The Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards are the largest of their kind in the world and are a collaboration between on-line travel agent responsibletravel.com who founded and organise the Awards; UK media partners The Times and Geographical Magazine; and World Travel Market who host the Awards ceremony. The central tenet of the Awards is that all types of tourism – from niche to mainstream – can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people.