Original Travel Declares a Climate Emergency
Original Travel has long been committed to responsible travel. That's why we have now chosen to join other companies and individuals working in the travel and tourism industry in declaring a climate emergency .
We understand the impact that the travel industry - and especially flying - can have on the environment, but we also believe that travel to destinations away from home can and should be a force for good, both for the visitors and the locals in their host destinations. Squaring this circle is the challenge everyone in travel is faced with but acknowledging the seriousness of the environmental situation is an important step.
For that reason we are:
1. Developing a 'Climate Emergency Plan'
This will be adopted by our board of directors as soon as possible.
2. Sharing our commitment and progress publicly
We share our commitment to the cause of responsible travel at length on our website, in blogs, and across our brochure, suggesting ways in which clients and staff can reduce their negative environmental impact while travelling. Our expert consultants also know their destinations so well that they can suggest to clients the partner properties and suppliers on the ground who are doing the most to tackle the issues of climate change and sustainable tourism, so our clients can make informed decisions about where their money goes.
3. Cutting carbon emissions
We accept the current IPCC
advice stating the need to cut global carbon
emissions to 55% below 2017 levels by 2030 to keep the planet from
warming more than 1.5 degrees. In order to combat this threat, we
can proudly claim that all travel by our clients and staff is
effectively carbon neutral. This is because for the last ten years
our Foundation has been planting enough trees (1.5 million a year)
to off-set the carbon emissions from our clients - and staff's -
air and ground travel.
But we want to go further than this. We have created a portfolio of
train-only holiday itineraries across Europe that mean our clients can travel
flight-free, and wherever possible we try to encourage clients to
take trains instead of flights or car transfers/car hire.
4. Working together
We actively encourage our suppliers and partners in our destinations to reduce their carbon emissions, reduce plastic consumption and adopt sustainable tourism principles; we share best practice amongst our peers; and we pledge to actively participate in the Tourism Declares community.
5. Advocating for change
We recognise the need for system change across the industry and call for urgent regulatory action to accelerate the transition towards zero carbon air travel.
