Just a very quick progress report on where we are on our journey to becoming a net positive business. For those new to the term, ‘net positive’ is a new way, says the Net Positive Group, ‘of doing business which puts back more into society, the environment and the global economy than it takes out’.
The group was founded in 2013 by Forum for the Future, The Climate Group, and WWF, and has since developed 12 principles by which a net positive organisation acts, a framework for measuring progress, and a means of articulating that progress.
In keeping with the above, we have drawn up a five-year plan to both minimise the obvious negative impact of the travel we facilitate and leave our destinations in a better condition than they were before we visited them. This plan commits us wholeheartedly to a range of steps that will ensure that we become a net positive business.
Do have a look at the Five-Year Plan when you get a moment. It gives a very top-line idea of our strategy and is updated whenever we have something significant to report. On which note, the below shares key updates over the last couple of years. Inevitably, it’s not all good news, but on balance, I’m delighted to report that we’re making good progress.
1% for the planet
In 2022, we exceeded our 1% pledge, gifting £51,689 through 1% for the Planet as well as supporting a range of conservation and community development work through our travel.
Carbon
In 2020, we measured and offset all our client trip emissions as well as our entire team’s carbon footprint. In 2020, the combined emissions of all trips totalled 142 tonnes of CO2. In 2021, it totalled 394 tonnes of CO2. The increase was due to Covid and no travel in 2020 and reduced travel in 2021. We will continue measuring, with 2022 being closer to a more ‘normal’ year. In 2022, we intend to include our other business emissions to offset as well. We continue to track team and trip emissions and are actively looking forward to reducing them.
BUSINESS FOR NATURE
We signed Business for Nature’s call to action alongside 1,100 other companies calling on governments to adopt policies to reverse nature loss in this decade.
We have also just signed their business statement, Make it Mandatory, which is urging governments to require all large businesses and financial institutions to assess and disclose their impacts and dependencies on nature by 2030 in the run-up to COP 15. For more on this, see COP: what and why.
WEEVA
We are working with Weeva, helping support their development of tourism-related sustainability tools.
OTHER
Our Africa House Group model was nominated for the Earthshot Prize by Cambridge University’s Social Ventures programme.