It has also given us a snapshot of climate action in the tourism industry globally – an industry that is predominantly made up of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
Of the 1,000-plus SMEs that make up our supply chain in 26 destinations, only 59 are measuring their carbon footprint; 26 are using 100% renewable energy, while 20 are carbon neutral.
I would guess a similar problem exists across the industry, yet few businesses are comprehensively measuring and reporting on their supplier profile.
’Destinations must play their part’
So what can we do to encourage action? We are launching our supplier decarbonisation program to support hotels in taking the first step towards decarbonisation by measuring their emissions, starting with providers in Vietnam, Thailand, Morocco and Ecuador. And we are sharing this data with destinations and global bodies to inspire action and investment.
I also welcome the call at Cop29 for more destinations to sign up to the Glasgow Declaration, as this will support the global commitment to halve emissions by 2030, ensure more transparent reporting against short- and long-term goals and investment in the transition, and encourage stronger collaboration.
For the global travel industry, progress on decarbonisation is tied to destinations adopting renewable energy and associated green infrastructure, so this is important. We simply cannot reach our carbon reduction targets without destinations doing their part.
It’s not all bad news – we are seeing adoption of EVs in many countries, helping us to offer more sustainable transfers. But the gap between intention and action is significant.
I want to make it clear Intrepid is far from perfect. As a global tour operator, decarbonising – while also growing our business – poses a constant challenge. But that’s why we’re leaning on our legacy of acting on the climate crisis for nearly two decades to make our commitment stronger than ever.
Cop29 comes with its fair share of important criticisms, not least an underrepresentation of women and too little being done too late, but we need these forums to accelerate our shared commitments and to put our industry under the microscope.
The “polluter pays” idea is about forcing those at fault for the climate crisis to take responsibility, and it’s about time we extended the same expectation to the tourism industry.
James Thornton is chief executive of Intrepid Travel, which has previously shared with the industry its blueprint for carbon measurement.
This post was originally published on here
