A climate emergency

No longer can we ignore the changes in the world around us, the difficult, the devastating, the inevitable without change. No longer can we separate ourselves as an industry from this problem. Tourism accounts for 8% of global greenhouse emissions, with air travel being a significant contributor.

We believe we are different. As a responsible tour operator we recognise we are part of the problem – and that we can be part of the solution. Therefore we are pleased to be a founding signatory of Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, a group of travel businesses coming together to declare a climate emergency. 

We are already zero-waste-to-landfill in our head office, and we will become carbon neutral. Everyone booking with us from January 2020 will have their entire trip’s emissions offset using Gold Standard credits. Carbon neutrality allows us to act immediately while we take more time to develop the strategies needed to embed sustainability. In the next 12 months we will publish a public plan on how we will reduce our emissions, and those of our supply chain. We know we must measure our impact, reduce our footprint, and offset the residual.

In 2020 Explore will commit to five of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, linking our sustainability strategy with our declaration of a climate emergency.
 

1. Climate action
Reducing our carbon emissions in the office and on tour using science-based targets.

2. Life on land
Refine and enforce our animal welfare policy.

3. Quality education
Develop sustainability training for all staff and increase commitments with our partnered academic institutions.

4. Responsible consumption and production 
Eliminate single use plastic globally on our tours and analyse our full supply chain for resource management.

5. Partnerships for the goals
Strong collaboration within the industry, and wider, to push for governmental policy to address the climate emergency.