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    Carbon Labelling

    Making It Simple

    There is no getting away from the fact that in the world of carbon emissions, footprints and calculators can be rather complex.

    For several years, we have wanted to devise an approach that would allow our travellers to meaningfully understand how to make holiday choices that are better for the planet.

    Working with the eCollective, we have developed one of the world’s first carbon labelling schemes for travel. In much the same way as you can see the number of calories on a packet of cereal or bar of chocolate, each and every one of our trips now has a carbon label or score indicating the amount of kilogrammes of carbon attributed to each traveller.

    How on earth have we managed to work this out and what do the numbers actually mean? Those are both great questions which we hope we can explain below.

    What Do The Numbers Actually Mean?

    How much is 100kg of carbon and is this a good or bad figure? When we started out on this project, we were as in the dark as you may be now. Rather than providing a colour coding scheme or similar to suggest one of our holidays is better for the planet than the other, we’ve chosen to approach this differently.

    Below you can see how the average carbon emissions per traveller on a Wilderness Trip of 7 days/ 6 nights look compared to other types of holiday and a selection of activities that are part of our daily lives. It is also helpful to know that the current global average per day is 14kg of CO2 (India = 5kg, UK = 15kg, US & Canada = 38kg and Australia = 42kg). Scientists consider that an average of 10kg of CO2 is what is truly sustainable in the long-term.

    It is our hope that if you’re as concerned about the impacts of climate change as we are, this information will allow you to make more informed travel decisions on where and how to travel.

    *These numbers are based on average trip capacity and standard itineraries and do not include flights.

    Our Road Map to True Net Zero

    • By 2030 we commit to reducing our Scope 1&2 emissions by 90% and Scope 3 emissions by 50%.
    • Between 2023 and 2030, where we can’t reduce, we will invest in projects that remove, avoid or reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
    • Our goal is to achieve True Net Zero Status by the end of 2030, investing solely in projects that permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere for those emissions that remain.

    What Does This Mean For You?

    Our offsetting and removal efforts address the impact of each individual trip, so you can book your adventure holiday with the knowledge that your carbon impact is already being mitigated.

    Want to Do More?

    The impact of your trip is already taken care of but if you want to do more, please take a look at our Wilderness Conservation and Community Fund. We ask all of our travellers to donate a small amount at the time of booking. This is entirely optional but the funds go into various conservation projects across Scotland, as well as carbon removal.

    Your Travel

    Carrying out this work has also brought into sharp focus just how significant the transportation component is to the overall carbon footprint of a holiday, particular those which are human powered and otherwise low carbon.

    The following examples illustrate just how this looks for travel from various locations:

    Of course, we can’t take trains across oceans so there are unavoidable impacts with longer-haul travel. However, in line with our manifesto for 21st-century tourism, our view is that such purpose-driven and selective travel ultimately delivers net benefits to our planet, providing invaluable support to economies, communities and environments around the world.

    Our aim every year is to increase those benefits that tourism can bring and decrease the negative impact on climate change. We invite you to do the same by taking actions that reduce your carbon footprint but still allow you to see the world, have amazing adventures and enjoy life changing experiences. It is far more powerful to reduce your own carbon footprint but if you also wish to offset your emissions, we can help make that easier as you will now know the exact carbon footprint of your Wilderness trip.

    Sustainability

    Learn more about Wilderness Scotland’s commitment to sustainable tourism.

    Find Out More

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