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Positive Impact Travel Report – 2022
At Steppes Travel, we are committed to reporting publicly on the progress we have made and the actions we have taken in fulfilling our commitment to people, planet and profit.
The below is an overview of what we have done in 2022 to enhance the sustainability of our business and augment the positive impact of our holidays. This is an ongoing process and while there are many positives to take from 2022, we need to strengthen our efforts in 2023 towards lightening the carbon footprint of our value chain.
Offsetting Flights
We have offset 2,182.5 tCO² generated by clients' flights in the period September 1st 2021 – August 31st 2022 (our financial year), at a cost of £32,737.05 paid to World Land Trust. We continue to work with World Land Trust with whom our offsets are allocated to a portfolio of self-certified REDD+ projects (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) in countries such as Vietnam, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. While afforestation has an important role to play in providing nature-based carbon extraction, the protection and restoration of existing forests is paramount. According to World Land Trust, between 10-20% of global Green House Gas (GHG) emissions are caused by the destruction of existing forests.
Hue, Vietnam
Our policy on offsetting remains as follows:
We offset our clients' international and domestic flights, even if the flights are not booked by Steppes Travel.
We offset these flights based on travel in economy class.
We encourage our clients to make up the difference in offset, should they choose to travel in a higher cabin class.
We offset our own staff travel flights.
We offset our office carbon footprint.
Violaceous Trogon, Costa Rica
Offsetting Our Carbon Footprint
Office Footprint
With the help of e-collective we have measured the footprint of our headquarters in Cirencester, for the calendar year of 2022, as 46.45 tCO².
This is a significant increase to 2021, namely due to using an improved methodology and measuring additional components. We have attempted to calculate the carbon emissions associated with our team working from home for approximately 40% of the week and the emissions associated with our team's commute for the days they work from our office. Business travel has significantly increased since the lifting of Covid restrictions.
A payment of £726.50 has been made to World Land Trust to offset the operational carbon footprint of our office, covering the calendar years of 2021 and 2022.
People Picking Tea On Bari Tea Estate, India
Measuring our impact on the ground
In 2021, we identified the need to come up with a system of scoring the sustainability of the properties we use. By weighing up a property's carbon footprint against the positive impact it has on the local community and environment, we can determine its net impact. We are still some way off achieving this at scale, but we continue to collaborate with organisations such as The Long Run and Weeva towards achieving this objective.
We have been trialling various carbon calculators this year to generate baseline figures for the carbon emissions generated by typical itineraries in our key destinations. Not only this, we have started a process of consolidation of hotels and cruises in our key destinations based on an analysis of their carbon footprint alongside their environmental, economic and social impact.
Philanthropy & Core Goals
Charities & Initiatives
Between September 2021 and September 2022, we have supported organisations and projects who focus on biodiversity, conservation and community outreach, with a total of over £100,000 being donated to these causes.
Below is a brief overview of who we have supported:
Brigg Tree Planting Project – £12,000
Room to Read – £15,588
Practical Action – £15,588
Friends of Scott Polar Research Institute – £8,633
Orangutan Foundation – £12,000
PanEco Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme – £12,000
Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science – £24,250
Oncafari – camera trap (maned wolf project) – £400
B Corp Certified Company
In the first half of 2022, following a rigorous application process, Steppes Travel became a B Corp certified company. We went through this process in order to validate our commitment to sustainability through people, planet and profit, using a respected third party. To qualify, independent assessors looked at the impact of our business in respect to 'governance, workers, environment, community and customers.'
Our B Impact Assessment score was 89.8 – the minimum threshold for qualification is 80. We will continue to make developments and improvements in our business to ensure we continue to have a positive social and environmental impact.
Holiday Ideas & Properties
This year we took further steps towards aligning our vision for Positive Impact Travel with the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As a consistent and universal road map for change, these goals provide a framework within which all businesses can work to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the world. Our goal is for our web pages to display how each Holiday Idea supports at least three of the UN SDGs.
Take a look at our South Australia and Kangaroo Island Holiday Idea as an example and visit our Positive Impact Holiday page to see how your holiday can have a positive impact.
Land Iguana, Galapagos Islands
Paying a Fair Price for Nature
Galapagos National Park Fee
In the final quarter of this year, we introduced an initiative to raise awareness about the need for tourism to pay a fair price for the natural resources on which the industry depends. The meagre Galapagos National Park fee of $100 epitomises how nature can often be undervalued. To address this issue, for each of our clients travelling to the Galapagos, we donate $100 to the Galapagos Conservation Trust to fund essential conservation work. We also encourage our clients visiting the islands to make a similar donation. The Latin American Travel Association has adopted this initiative and is urging other tour operators to do the same as Steppes Travel.
Read more about our Paying a Fair Price for Nature campaign on our blog.
Looking Ahead to 2023
Carbon, Conservation & Community
In 2021, we set ourselves the ambitious goal of halving our carbon footprint by 2025. With very limited means of accurately measuring our supply chain (Scope 3) emissions and with long haul flights contributing such a significant percentage of our overall carbon footprint, it is now clear that this deadline is unachievable. As a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration, we have committed to work towards a 50% reduction of our carbon footprint by 2030. We are under no illusion that this will be a very challenging target, requiring trade-offs and innovation.
Our efforts in 2023 will be focussed on establishing a baseline figure for the carbon emissions generated in the supply chain (hotels, transport, excursions etc.) of our most popular destinations, so that we can start making inroads towards achieving this objective.
Mustang, Nepal
While a reduction in the carbon emissions associated with our business is essential, we will continue to use the UN SDG framework to provide holidays that support conservation and community initiatives. We are in the process of creating a shortlist of positive impact properties – hotels and lodges – in our most popular destinations that we believe create positive environmental, economic and social impact on the ground. These hotels will be the mainstay of our business.
Our Charitable Partnerships
We will continue to give financial support to charities and initiatives that are in alignment with our core goals, which we have simplified as carbon, conservation and community.
The initiatives we are supporting in 2023 are:
Brigg project – an innovative land-concession model that has set aside land just outside Scunthorpe for tree planting
The Long Table – giving people in our community access to food and people to eat it with
Seawilding – community-led marine habitat restoration on the Craignish peninsula
The financial support we give to carbon, conservation and community-based initiatives will be at least 1% of our total revenue.
At least 20 of our most popular destinations will have a carbon emissions baseline figure that reflects all components of the holiday (flights, accommodation, transport, excursions etc.)
We will measure the number of bookings where our clients have offset the difference between economy and higher-cabin seats on their flights and look for means of incentivising this action.
50% of the hotels/lodges we book in 2023 in our top selling destinations will be from our short-list of 'positive impact properties.'
50% of the Holiday Ideas on our website will articulate how the holiday contributes to at least three UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Mountain gorilla, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
We shouldn't let perfect be the enemy of good
We don't have all the answers. Far from it. We know that carbon measurement and offsetting is not a perfect solution but it should be the standard across the industry. We will continue to strive to do more. We hope you will join us on our journey to refine the way we travel to ensure it is a privilege that can be enjoyed for many years to come.
Read our full 2022 Positive Impact Travel Report