We know that every event has an environmental impact and that travel is the major contributor: up to 80% of an event’s carbon footprint comes from travel: think planes, trains, and car journeys. The Climate Levy helps balance that out by channeling donations from audiences to support vital climate projects that restore ecosystems close to your event site, across the UK and globally, this ensures your green initiatives both uphold climate justice, by supporting communities on the front line of climate change, and have a tangible local impact for your community.
The climate levy is onboard:earth’s solution for event organisers who want to engage their audience in creating a positive impact locally, without needing an accurate carbon audit. Livvy Drake, onboard:earth Project Director
What is the Climate Levy?
The Climate Levy is a small, mandatory micro‑donation that you can choose to add-on to your ticket price. You can select from a range of donation amounts to suit your event and your audience.
By adding the levy, you’re giving your attendees an easy way to acknowledge the carbon impact of their travel. Every contribution supports onboard:earth’s Canopy & Coast program, funding high‑impact environmental restoration and climate justice projects around the world.
Why is the Climate Levy Mandatory? Because caring for the planet isn’t optional. By making the Climate Levy a standard part of every ticket, your event sends a clear message: we’re in this together. Every guest contributes, and that collective action adds up to real impact.
Here’s why it matters:
- It shows your values in action – not just words
- It unites your community around a shared purpose
- It gives you powerful stories to share and build the love for your brand
- It helps report on your climate impact with confidence.
Since 2015, onboard.earth has helped hundreds of events tackle travel emissions. Their experience is clear: a mandatory levy is the only way to make real change – generating authentic impact, stronger communities, and a clear path to a lower-carbon future.
How does it work?
- Add a small donation (25p-£5) to event tickets or car parking passes. See the table below for a suggested amount.
- We channel donations to environmental restoration projects that leave a lasting, tangible impact for nature through our Canopy & Coast progam
- We support you to share the positive impacts of your event networks’ donations and the total impact of the onboard:earth community.
These are the suggested figures for a mandatory climate levy depending on the scale or size of your event. We already have winter wonderland events adding 25p and larger music festivals and event industry conferences adding £2 – £5 to every ticket.
| Tier Name | Event Type | Typical Audience Travel | Suggested Climate Levy |
| Community Pulse | Local community, wellbeing, school proms, student societies. | Mostly walking, cycling, public transport; some car travel. | £0.25–£0.50 per ticket |
| Urban Collective | City-centre music gigs & day festivals, conferences, exhibitions, charity & sporting events. | City-wide and regional travel; public transport and car journeys. | £0.50–£1.00 per ticket |
| Fields & Festivals | Greenfield, out-of-town and camping festivals. | Long-distance driving, coach travel, limited public transport. | £1.50–£2.00 per ticket |
| Global Stage | Professional large-scale conferences & expos, awards ceremonies, TEDx, stadium-scale tours. | Cross-country and international; all modes incl. air travel. | £2.50–£5.00 per ticket |
Where the Donations Go: Canopy & Coast
Canopy & Coast directs funding to carefully vetted, community‑led environmental projects through onboard:earth’s trusted partners. Every £20 donated will fund:
- 1 acre of threatened rainforest protected – preserving vital habitat for endangered wildlife and protecting biodiversity in perpetuity.
- 1 tree planted in the UK in a community project – this can be directed to a project local to your event.
- 3 trees planted by communities living on the frontlines of climate breakdown – these trees not only restore degraded landscapes, they also provide long term livelihood options for women and communities.
- Seagrass plugs planted and maintained to restore the marine ecosystem on the UK coastline.
- onboard:earth supported to enable live events to tackle their travel emissions and create a collective legacy.
How to add the climate levy to tickets?
- Work with your existing ticket agent to build the donation into tickets: You can build in the climate levy to any of your ticket types with your existing ticket agent or show it as extra in baskets. Communicate this clearly to your audience and let them know the positive impact of their donation – we can help you calculate this impact using the Canopy & Coast impact metrics above. At the end of the event, you let us know your total donation and we we will invoice you. We then share your certificates of environmental restoration.
- Humanitix tickets: A seamless way to add the climate levy: We’ve partnered with ticket agent Humanitix to help events add the climate levy with a simple, optional add-on at checkout. Going through Humanitix makes the climate levy straightforward and impactful for your ticket-buyers, and means you can see the the positive impacts of donations for people and planet in real-time so that you can give your audiences updates along the way.
Why Humanitix?
Humanitix are the ticket agent with a difference and they align with onboard:earth’s mission belief that events can be an incredible catalyst for social change and that includes climate action. They are the world’s first not-for-profit event ticketing platform that operates on a “good, not greed” philosophy. By transforming standard booking fees into a force for social good, they dedicate 100% of their profits to funding education, healthcare, and literacy programs for disadvantaged children and marginalised communities worldwide.
Visit the Humanitix x onboard:earth climate levy page and get your planet-protecting tickets on sale today
How You Know It’s Making a Difference
We support you to share the positive impacts of your event networks’ donations and the total impact of the onboard:earth community.
From rural communities in Malawi navigating extreme weather to endangered species in South American rainforests, onboard:earth builds long‑term, trust‑based relationships with every project they support.
Each new partner undergoes rigorous due diligence, and communities share impact updates throughout the year, so you can feel confident that every Climate Levy donation is creating real, measurable change.
Stories like these:
- Partner Spotlight: Funding a Just Transition in Northern Malawi: How donations to onboard:earth support communities hardest hit by climate change
- Partner Spotlight: Support UK marine ecosystem restoration
- Partner Spotlight: Saving threatened rainforest to protect Wolves and Jaguars in Mexico.
Email the onboard:earth team for more details hello@onboard.earth