Intrepid Travel launches carbon labeling initiative

Intrepid Travel, the B-Corp certified and carbon neutral tour operator, now offers carbon labeling on more than 500 itineraries, including its most popular trips, to provide greater transparency on a trip’s impact on Earth.

More than half of Intrepid’s trips now display the trip’s total CO2 emissions, per traveler per day. Emissions are calculated to include the overall carbon footprint, from accommodation to transportation and food. The number is then increased by 15 percent to add anything that was not initially calculated.

The calculation process was developed according to guidelines established by Climate Active and is part of B-Corp’s climate action plans.

“Without stronger government regulation or the need for ESG disclosure, it is almost impossible to hold companies accountable for reducing their emissions,” said Sara King, executive director of Purpose for Intrepid Travel.

“We cannot ignore our impact, and we cannot effectively reduce what we do not measure. Through carbon labeling, we can increase customers’ understanding of their footprint while advocating for this level of measurement and transparency to become an industry standard.

Intrepid views carbon labeling as a nutrition label: travelers can better understand their own impact on the Earth with greater transparency. The tour operator also provides comparison data. For example, 100 kg of CO2 emissions are equivalent to charging a smartphone 12,164 times or driving a gasoline-powered car for approximately 250 miles.

The tour operator also continues to reduce the number of flights taken on its trips in order to reduce its carbon impact. By 2024, the operator will have 4,000 fewer flights than in 2023 and will no longer offer scenic flights.

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