Global adventure travel company Intrepid Travel joined hundreds of fellow B Corp certified businesses last week at the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference, COP25, in Madrid to represent the tourism industry.
In front of more than 50 world leaders and climate activists from around the globe, the unified group declared their collective commitment to net-zero emissions as a minimum standard.
The group’s advocacy raises the bar on responsible leadership, proving that business success and climate action are compatible, despite what many of the world’s leaders opinions and policies may suggest.
The collection of B Corp certified businesses (companies that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose) have stated their intention to become carbon neutral by 2030, and Intrepid Travel is calling on the tourism industry to join their commitment to net-zero emissions.
Intrepid co-founder Darrell Wade attended the event virtually to represent the adventure travel company’s commitment to further climate action, in a video presented to attendees.
“While it’s imperative that the world leaders gathered at COP25 work collaboratively towards decisive government action to combat our urgent climate crisis, it is the responsibility, and obligation, of businesses to do whatever is in their power to preserve this earth for our future generations,”
Intrepid co-founder Darrell Wade
Intrepid is the world’s most significant certified travel B Corp and has been a carbon-neutral business since 2010. They have since committed to becoming climate positive in 2020.
What does climate positive mean? Essentially, it means running all of your business operations efficiently and offsetting where possible to attain a positive climate score versus taking from the environment.
To date, the latter has been the traditional business approach with fossil fuel production the worst example.
“We feel it is our responsibility as a leader in the travel industry to advocate for emission reductions and climate policies around the world. After all, what would travel look like with our cities underwater, or our reefs depleted of their biodiversity?” continued Wade.
“Thirty years ago, we wanted to become the best travel company in the world. Now, our goal is to be the best travel company for the world.”
Intrepid co-founder Darrell Wade
Melbourne based Travel Group Reho Travel is the only B Corp affiliated Travel Agency in Australiasia and also joined the commitment for change. The group, led by CEO Karsten Horne, is celebrating its 40th year in business.
With a host of impressive green credentials under its belt, Intrepid group plans to launch even more responsible and sustainable initiatives into 2020, including offsetting flights for customers who book their airfare directly with the company.
Intrepid says that “their commitment is just one more step in the company’s work and advocacy in the climate space.”
Find out more: www.intrepidtravel.com/responsible-business
How can you travel to change the world?
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Now you can easily create your impact by sharing your new-found knowledge with other friends who you think would also be interested.
Ultimately, responsible travel comes down to common sense – stay curious, keep yourself up-to-date with the challenges at hand and make yourself accountable for your actions on your travels.