The Adventure Travel Trade Association has been carbon offsetting events every year since 2016, and gradually expanding its climate action programming. In 2021 we are taking the next step in formalizing the approach we’ve organically developed and establishing a standard system for emissions measurement, reporting, and reductions. We look forward to sharing our progress with the community and welcome your feedback.
As we all know, the aim of any good carbon strategy is to measure and then improve. With this in mind, we’ve engaged Charlie Cotton and Ecollective, a boutique carbon emissions measurement firm that makes it easy to accurately measure and then reduce the carbon footprint of what you sell.
Charlie and his colleagues will support the ATTA team in measuring the carbon footprint of its events business, starting by calculating our event emissions for 2021 - 2022. This emissions calculation approach will then be used repeatedly in future years, allowing us to set benchmarks from which we can reduce.
Over time we expect to reduce our carbon footprint and also improve the accuracy of our measurements. While it is not realistic to calculate the carbon footprint of an event with 100 percent accuracy, it is very possible to get 95 percent accuracy in a short time. As a lean team, we’re taking steps to improve the accuracy while managing the time invested in the project. With Ecollective’s guidance we expect to get a bit into the nitty gritty in some cases - for example learning which foods have the highest carbon footprint at an event, which can help us adapt meal plans to be delicious but without the high carbon impacts. Or, learning where our host destination venues have the largest carbon footprint, enabling us to help bring awareness to local teams about specific issues which might range from lightbulbs to insulation.
From 2021 onwards, we will be transparent about our carbon footprint with the goal of showing progress on emissions reductions along with supporting credible carbon offsetting projects through Neutral Together and measurable carbon removal with permanent storage through Tomorrow’s Air. This is a journey we’re on together. We hope that by sharing how we are approaching the climate emergency we will inspire and help our community and other associations to do the same.
“I’m really looking forward to this work with the ATTA, as their team shares the Ecollective ethos. We both believe in the positive power of adventure travel and realize we all need to reduce and mitigate emissions if we want to have long term success,” remarked Charlie Cotton, founder of Ecollective.
Watch this space for updates, and if you have feedback, feel free to send your comment to [email protected]