THE CLIMATE CRISIS

We're in the midst of a climate and biodiversity emergency.

Like all travel companies, despite our efforts to build the world's most positive impact adventure company, we're heavily implicated.

Current IPCC advice tells us that, by 2030, we need to cut global carbon emissions to at least 55% below what they were in 2017, to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming.

OUR PLAN

In 2020 we aim to;

1. MEASURE

Publish a transparent, 3rd party verified, carbon footprint analysis for each of our trips, as well as our internal operations. Use that to set future reduction targets and to track progress on these.

2. REDUCE

Work with our local hosts to get carbon reduction roadmaps in place for at least 75% of our trips by 2021, and share these publicly. Work with hosts to make all our trips single-use plastic free by 2021. Launch a train-friendly adventure collection to help our UK and European customers to avoid flying. Provide access to advice about which airlines and routes to choose to minimise emissions from your flight. Develop a plan for halving the number of flights taken per staff member each year.

3. REMOVE

Continue to channel 5% of revenues into conservation and re-wilding projects that have the highest potential for carbon removal.

4. CAMPAIGN

Continue to lead co-ordination and growth of the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency movement, which we co-founded. Develop and release our manifesto for wider system change across the industry, including the aviation sector.

TRANSPARENCY

At the end of the year, we will ‘mark our own homework’ by publicly reporting on the status of each of these goals and setting a new set of goals for 2021.

We do not claim to know all the answers. As we go, we’ll transparently share our progress and our learnings in the hope others will learn from our mistakes. We’ll talk openly, invite criticism and collaboarate with partners and competitors alike. Only by doing so do we have a chance of getting to our goal, not just as a company, but as a society.

NO GRAND CLAIMS

While we fund conservation and re-wilding work that has the potential to remove many times more carbon from the atmosphere than enters it as a result of our trips, we do not formally ‘carbon offset’ in order to claim carbon neutrality or carbon positivity.

We consider this to be misleading, and a dangerous distraction from the critical work of reducing carbon emissions.

INVITATION TO CRITICISE

By nature our adventure travel style is relatively low carbon - think hiking, kayaking and camping compared to luxury hotels and bus tours. Early indications from our soon-to-be-released carbon footprint analysis point to this.

However, as a travel company reliant on customers flying round the world we recognise that just by publishing this policy, we are opening ourselves up to accusations of greenwashing.

If traveller numbers are going to continue to increase as forecasts suggest - and few would argue otherwise - it’s our responsibility to engage with the challenges we face head on.

We’ll do everything we can to cut the carbon emissions we have any say over, encourage others to do likewise, and campaign for the wider system changes needed to move travel and aviation especially towards a low carbon future.

Our plans are evolving continuously based on learning and sharing. If you have suggestions or insights that can help us improve, just email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. anytime.

You can follow our wider sustainability model, goals and actions here.

Source: Much Better Adventures

Region: Global