Green travel vs. carbon offsetting: where do we draw the line?

For a good part of the last decade, carbon offsetting has been a large player in consumer-based, green travel initiatives. Companies like Carbonfund and terrapass have become very successful by allowing travelers and organizations that are looking for a “green edge” to offset their carbon rations for things like flights, hotel stays, rental cars and more.

However, this week, popular sustainably-minded travel portal responsibletravel.com has taken a formal stand against carbon offsetting, calling the very idea of offsets “dangerously distracting.”

The website was one of the very first travel organizations to actually introduce carbon offsetting to the masses in early 2002. Now, it is one of the first to speak out against them – citing the travel industry’s need to reduce rather than offset carbon emissions.

“We have thought long and hard about how we can continue to offer our customers the leading advice they expect from a responsible tourism business when it comes to the fast growing impact of flying on the environment,” said Justin Francis, MD, responsibletravel.com. “We believe that the travel industry’s priority must be to reduce carbon emissions, rather than to offset.”

In a recent report by Friends of the Earth, carbon offsetting was deemed a “dangerous distraction” – a deterrent for tourists from the need to actually reduce their carbon footprint, creating a sort of guilt-free illusion of environmentally friendly travel.

Francis agrees with this report, and continues to say that “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.”

In its place, responsibletravel.com is working with Friends of the Earth to put in place a clear, alternativeset of advice and guidelines to enable travelers to “carbon cautious.” for travellers offering

“Ultimately we need to reduce our carbon emissions,” continued Francis. “We can do this by flying less – travelling by train or taking holidays closer to home for example, and by making carbon reductions in other areas of our lifestyles too, alongside travel.

“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.”

Responsibletravel.com has also teamed up with leading responsible tourism academic Professor Harold Goodwin, Director International Center for Responsible Tourism on his FlySmart Campaign for Responsible Aviation: www.flysmart.org . The campaign supports a Carbon Friendly Flight Search functionality, enabling travelers to search and compare the cheapest and most environmentally friendly fares available around the world.

For more information visit www.flysmart.org and www.responsibletravel.com/carboncaution.