‘I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.’ – environmental activist Greta Thunberg urges the world to act in response to this global crisis and its difficult not to listen.
As part of our first initiative of 2020 we have pledged to take responsibility; JORO Experiences along with a group of businesses, organisations and individuals in the tourism industries have become a signatory of ‘Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency’. We hope to help people travel the world responsibly and sustainably – to be part of the solution, with immediate action. We aim to have a positive impact on the environments we visit, both social and physical, by being a leading voice, an educator and influencer of the industry on relevant sustainability issues.
In 2020 we aim to:
- Develop a ‘Climate Emergency Plan’
We are currently in the process of building our ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ with the hope to publish it within the next six months. This will be a constant work in progress, as we imagine it to be constantly evolving and adapting to current times. We are open to ideas and keen to hear other ways in which we can improve the plan – which is effectively a pledge to help protect our planet earth.
- Share Our Commitment and Progress Publicly
Once finalised, we will publicly share our progress and the positive changes that have been made, being completely transparent with our progress and updating everyone bi-annually. Transparency is key for us with this pledge, and we look forward to sharing all of our efforts with you, in the hope that we can all take some personal responsibility for our daily consumption and the effects that this has on our planet.
- Cut Carbon Emissions
Tourism accounts for 8 – 12% of the world’s carbon emissions, we pledge to increase our use of the best practices and strategies in the industry that will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint; for the footprint we can’t reduce, we will offset. We are committed to accelerating our own emission reductions in line with IPPC advice that the world needs to cut global carbon emissions to 55% below 2017 levels by 2030 and we will take all necessary steps towards responsible consumption.
- Work Together
We are in the process of founding a conservation fund; which will be launched soon – comprised of a collection of like-minded agencies the fund will support smaller charities and individual projects. We also call the industry to act and take action and will promote working together for faster, better results. The more we grow, the bigger the difference we can make to this environmental crisis.
- Advocate For Change
We are constantly researching the best and most creative way to tackle this issue; partnering with hotels and companies who share the same goals and ethos for a sustainable journey of discovery, encouraging them to make their own declarations. When planning trips for clients we will investigate low carbon footprint products, and actively promote responsible hotels, vessels and modes of transport in our destinations; challenging outdated ways of thinking and urging people to take personal responsibility.
If you have any questions or ideas about how we can tackle the climate emergency, then we would love to hear from you. Please contact us [email protected], or to learn more about Tourism Declares click – here.
Written by
Duncan Over
Duncan is the Co-founder and Director of Operations at Joro Experiences. He has pledged to make Joro a leader in sustainable travel and has been developing the company as such since its inception.
