Intrepid's carbon labelling

SEPTEMBER 2023

Intrepid launches one of industry's most comprehensive carbon labelling initiative alongside new research that shows consumer demand for better transparency.

Intrepid Travel is debuting carbon labels on over 500 itineraries, including its top 100 trips, with plans to continue measuring and disclosing the emissions of every trip. These labels, which appear on the individual tour pages on the company’s website, will tell travellers the carbon footprint of each Intrepid tour, providing greater transparency as it deepens its commitment to climate-conscious travel.  

Now displayed on over half of Intrepid’s trip pages, the carbon label will show the total CO2-e of the trip per traveler, per day. The total emissions are calculated by identifying the different components contributing to the overall carbon footprint, including accommodations, transportation, food provided during the trip, activities, the local operations’ office emissions and waste. A 15% contingency is then added to each trip’s total emissions, to account for anything unintentionally missing. Intrepid’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory calculation process was developed in line with the best-practice requirements set by Climate Active, an ongoing partnership between the Australian Government and corporations to drive voluntary climate action in the private sector.  

Carbon labelling informs consumers of the impact a product or service has on the environment by providing a CO2-e kg number like a nutrition label, allowing customers to make better-informed decisions. As part of the debut, Intrepid commissioned new research showing 64% of adults worldwide have no idea what their carbon footprint is. Another 60% are more likely to book trips with a company that is transparent about their environmental impact, and yet only 38% find it easy to find that information.  

These labels will help educate travellers on their own carbon footprint and make it easier for them to understand their impact. Travelers will also be able to access information on how Intrepid is offsetting these emissions and compare the data with everyday activities. For example, 100kg CO2-e is about the same as charging a smartphone 12,164 times or driving a gas-powered car about 399 kilometres.  

Intrepid strongly believes that carbon labelling will soon become standard practice and increasingly become part of government policy. “Without higher government regulations or the need for ESG disclosure, it is nearly impossible to hold businesses accountable for reducing their emissions,” said Sara King, GM of Purpose for Intrepid Travel. “We cannot shy away from our impact, and we cannot effectively reduce what we do not measure. With carbon labeling, we can increase customers’ understanding of their footprint while advocating for this level of measurement and transparency to become an industry standard,” she adds.  

In addition to the rollout of carbon labels, Intrepid remains committed to developing lower carbon itineraries. In 2024, they will have approximately 4,000 fewer flights on trips (compared to 2023) and will be discontinuing all scenic flights. To learn more about Intrepid’s new carbon labelling and carbon management program, visit https://www.intrepidtravel.com/carbon-management.