ResponsibleTravel.com Drops Carbon Offsetting

(Telegraph.co.uk - Oct 16, 2009) -- Responsibletravel.com, a travel company that specialises in responsible holidays, has announced that it will no longer give its customers the opportunity to offset their carbon emissions.

The move represents a sea change in its attitude towards the impact of flying on the environment. The company was among the first travel organisations to introduce carbon offsets in early 2002, and is now one of the first to remove them for environmental reasons.

“We believe that the travel industry’s priority must be to reduce carbon emissions, rather than to offset,” said Justin Francis, managing director of responsibletravel.com. “Too often offsets are being used by the tourism industry in developed countries to justify growth plans on the basis that money will be donated to projects in developing countries. Global reduction targets will not be met this way.”

A recent report by Friends of the Earth that labelled offsets as a “dangerous distraction”.

“Carbon offsets distract tourists from the need to reduce their emissions,” the report said. “They create a ‘medieval pardon’ for us to carry on behaving in the same way (or worse).”

Francis said that holidaymakers should look to reduce their emissions by flying less, travelling by train or taking holidays closer to home, as well as making carbon reductions in other areas of our lifestyles.

“There is no hiding the fact that tourists will continue to want to visit destinations requiring a flight, and that tourism contributes to livelihoods, local economic development and the conservation of the world’s cultural and natural heritage. We will continue to offer a more responsible choice of overseas holiday so that when tourists do fly they can ‘make their holiday count’ by choosing a more responsible holiday.”

By Charles Starmer-Smith

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