Posted: September 2, 2020
Long to travel again, and at the same time feeling even more worried than before about the effects of travel on global warming? You’re not alone. There’s been no shortage of articles in the popular press relating the pandemic to global warming, highlighting the ways in which the climate crisis exacerbates problems associated with the pandemic. Check out the Union of Concerned Scientists interactive website with maps that highlight issues including heatwaves during stay-at-home orders, and overstretched resources from climate disaster response to pandemic response.
Alongside this, there’s fresh research on the combined impact of transport plus food and accommodation on emissions. Turns out that the food you eat on your trip can potentially exceed emissions associated with transport and accommodation.
It feels like a lot of bad news, but here’s some good news.
One of the most valuable things we can do as travellers is help build awareness and support for carbon removal. In contrast to carbon offsetting - which, while helpful for the emissions it avoids, does not address the buildup of carbon stored in our atmosphere - carbon removal physically removes CO2 from the atmosphere and can be combined with permanent storage.
The Adventure Travel Trade Association is proud to have incubated Tomorrow’s Air, the world’s first carbon removal collective for travellers. Tomorrow’s Air provides carbon removal with permanent storage through direct air capture technology. Direct air capture carbon collectors filter CO2 from the air and transfer it underground where it safely turns to stone and in this way is permanently stored. One CO2 collector captures as much CO2 as 2000 trees, making direct air capture a powerful tool in our mission to clean up CO2 fast.
Sustainable travellers and industry leaders are getting involved now and you can too. Sustainable tourism development expert Natasha Martin of Good Tourism sums up the importance of joining the Tomorrow’s Air collective now this way, “ Being part of a collective to help scale carbon removal with permanent storage is more than just a feel-good action - it's a tangible move I can take to contribute to something whose success will influence the viability of the tourism economy in the coming years. I am proud to be an individual member of the collective.”
Likewise, Lykke Yakaboylu, adventure traveler and owner of Sila Greenland, observes, “We work with clients who understand luxury means access to unique and life-changing experiences. We want to keep providing these experiences and sharing what we love here in Greenland, where global warming is drastically affecting Arctic ice. The collective action vehicle offered through Tomorrow’s Air provides us an opportunity to extend the impact of we could do alone.”
Climate conscious travellers can show their support by following Tomorrow’s Air on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, signing the Clean Up Pact acknowledging the importance of carbon removal, or subscribing to a monthly plan to help clean up CO2 and preserve our earth for future generations. When you join Tomorrow’s Air you’re not just doing something for yourself, you’re doing something bigger - becoming a leader in responsible travel, inspiring others to follow in your footsteps and taking tangible action to reverse climate change.