The Travel Corporation has introduced new efforts to combat climate change, including a five-step Climate Action Plan, investment in two developing carbon removal projects and launch of a sustainability Impact Hub.
As members of the global travel industry, The Travel Corporation (TTC) say it recognises its role and responsibility in creating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through its trips and operations.
The travel operator says the need for both travellers and businesses to take action to address GHG emissions and climate change becomes clearer and more urgent every day.
What’s the plan?
In celebration of Earth Day 2021, TTC and its family of brands are announcing a Climate Action Plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, and support their continued efforts to achieve the organisation’s sustainability goals.
The Climate Action Plan consists of five points:
- Measure – Measure the emissions from our business and trips.
- Reduce – Build on reduction efforts and set ambitious reduction targets by mid-2022.
- Remove – Through our TreadRight Foundation, invest in new technology and nature-based solutions to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere.
- Offset – Purchase carbon credits to offset unavoidable emissions, including phasing in carbon-neutral trips between 2022 – 2030.
- Evolve – Continue to learn from others, invest in new technologies and support strategic alliances that enable us and the industry to move to a low carbon economy.
The goals commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and to sourcing 50% of electricity from renewable sources across the organisation by 2025. This includes TTC’s 20+ offices, 18 Red Carnation Hotels, 13 Uniworld ships, six accommodations/facilities, 500+ vehicles and more than 1,500 itineraries operated worldwide by its 40 brands including Contiki, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations and Uniworld.
Looking forward, TTC has committed to carbon neutral offices and business travel beginning January 1, 2022, through its partnership with offset provider South Pole.
On the same timeline, Contiki will move a step ahead to become a completely carbon neutral business, meaning unavoidable emissions from all trips departing as of January 1, 2022 will be offset going forward.
To further support the transition to a low-carbon future, TTC and its TreadRight Foundation are investing in two nature-based carbon removal solutions, Project Vesta and GreenWave.
TreadRight has also launched a new Impact Hub in an effort to be transparent as to progress made at TTC and its family of brands against the groups’ 11 sustainability goals, while also providing tips to travellers on how they can help.
“Our TTC Climate Action Plan is not marked by one quick fix, because there isn’t one. It is marked with the need to act now, to learn and adapt as technology and innovation support our need to transition to a low-carbon business,” states Brett Tollman, Chief Executive of The Travel Corporation.
“There is much debate as to the right approach when it comes to decarbonising travel and tourism, and our position is that this must be a process that begins now and commits to evolving as the solutions continue to improve and become available to us,” he concluded.
Click here for more information.
