Climate Action

In addition to sourcing independently verified responsible suppliers, Fair Voyage also commits to offset the carbon and greenhouse gas ("GHG") footprint of your travels.

However, we wanted to do it the right way, not just the easy way. When we started our research in early 2019, we were not able to locate any reputable and transparent studies comparing GHG calculators, fair offset prices, or most meaningful green technology investments. As we did not want to risk participating with "greenwashing", we initiated our own research in collaboration with the University of Lucerne. See the resulting research report on The Impact of Flying and How It Can Be Mitigated.

We then went on to further shortlist the most accurate and conservative GHG calculation and offset solutions for final implementation, and ran a test API implementation in autumn 2020 in collaboration with Compensaid, at the time a Lufthansa Innovation Hub startup powered by MyClimate. You can check our carbon calculator illustration.

Due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19 for our destinations, as well as a changes in our business model to focus on tailor-made slow trips for more comprehensive Positive Climate Action that better reflects and mitigates the entire impact of our trips (not just offset our carbon footprint), we decided to postpone the final technical implementation in order to free up resources for more urgent sustainability priorities and run our calculations manually in the near-term.

Starting 2021, we offset the entire impact of our trips—including international flights (if booked with us), accommodations and local transportation–based on our aggregate total trip volumes, following our periodic footprint calculation and offset approach.

To offset the impact, we re-invest in a select portfolio of climate protection projects in our destinations that meet highest globally recognized standards as curated by MyClimate or Atmosfair, as well as offer our travelers the possibility to invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel. More details coming soon.

Meanwhile, should you wish to book a trip and be sure to minimize your footprint, simply request a fully transparent calculation and individual trip offset certificate as your personal proof of action.

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In 2019, we conducted extensive research to identify the most accurate and reliable approach to calculate and offset the carbon and greenhouse gas footprint of our trips.

In 2020, we partnered with Compensaid, at the time a Lufthansa Innovation Hub startup powered by MyClimate, to calculate and offset the price of our trips. We tested their API and developed our calculation methods. See our carbon calculator for illustration purposes as well as:

• Our carbon footprint calculation
• Our footprint offset price calculation

Due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19 for our destinations, we decided to postpone the final technical & fully automated implementation for each of our trips in order to free up resources for more urgent sustainability priorities in the near-term.

Since 2021, we calculate and offset the footprint of our trips following our periodic footprint calculation and offset approach.

By 2023, we plan to fully automate our implementation, so that the impact is calculated and displayed to travelers directly and individually for each trip. We may still aggregate and make offset payments "manually" on a regular basis.

By 2024, we plan to fully automate also our offset payments for each trip, and generate a payment certificate for each traveler transparently in their dashboard in a fully automated way, for individual proof of payment.

Furthermore, we plan to enable and "nudge" travelers to easily offset also the footprint of their flights and invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (even when not booked through us) when booking a trip with us.

Fair Voyage was amongst the first travel agency to sign and support the Tourism Declares A Climate Emergency initiative in early 2020. As a result, we have publicly committed, and remain committed, to the following five actions:

1. Developing a ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ detailing our planned response.
2. Transparently sharing progress publicly every year.
3. Ensuring our plan focuses on cutting carbon emissions, in line with current advice from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stating that, by 2030, we need to cut global carbon emissions to 55% below their 2017 levels to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming.
4. Working together with competitors, suppliers and partners to share best practice and grow the community.
5. Advocating for system change across the industry and calling for urgent regulatory action to accelerate the transition towards zero carbon air travel.

Open Collaboration

We encourage and value open dialogue and cross-sectoral collaboration to gain valuable insights on what action and measures we can take to alter the negative impact of travel and increase the positive impact tourism can have. We work together with experienced professors and reputable universities to research the potential of carbon offsetting and we get expert views to find the best solution on the type of trips we want to promote.

Transparency and Information Sharing

When we started our research in early 2019, we were not able to locate any reputable and transparent studies comparing carbon and greenhouse gas ("GHG") calculators, fair offset prices, or most meaningful green investment projects. As we did not want to risk participating with "greenwashing", we initiated our own research, both in-house and in collaboration with the University of Lucerne. On our website, we are transparently sharing our findings and climate action, for the benefit of all.

Emphasize Slow Travel

We encourage travelers to travel less, stay at least two weeks in a destination and make their trip count. All our trips are operated by socially and environmentally responsible local partners that work hard to empower local communities, conservation projects, education, infrastructure and much more through the revenues coming from tourism.

Promote Green Destinations

Eco-tourism can be a force for good to restore and protect our biodiversity and forests that are so vital for a healthy climate and our global sustainability. We collaborate with Green Destinations and similar sustainable destination initiatives globally to promote the world's most sustainable eco-tourism projects and help travellers contribute directly to biodiversity conservation when traveling.

Offset the Climate Impact of our Trips

We acknowledge the environmental impact of travel and offset the carbon footprint of all our trips from 2020. To be able to do so accurately and conservatively, we committed significant time and resources to our carbon neutral project. We conducted extensive research in 2019, shortlisted the best solutions and developed an in-house prototype in 2020. We implemented our solution from 2021, effective for all our trips from 2020, following our periodic footprint calculation and offset approach. In addition, we plan to create more immediate transparency for each single trip on our website, in line with our technical implementation schedule.

Encourage Travelers to Purchase Sustainable Aviation Fuel

In addition to our carbon and GHG offset solution for each trip, we encourage travelers to purchase Sustainable Aviation Fuel, which we consider a more meaningful and fairly priced compensation and investment compared to traditional climate protection projects. Beyond flights necessary for our trips, we have also made it easy with our new Ambassador program for anyone keen to support our mission to earn reward points for referring more travelers to us, and we incentivize them to use their reward points to invest into Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

Raising Awareness

In addition to our awareness raising activities mentioned above, we also raise awareness through speaking at events or giving guest lecturers at universities and sustainable tourism training programs, we participate in lobbying by signing pledges to bring attention to important topics or issues to address within the tourism industry, and we share relevant information and engage actively on our social media channels and other communication channels.

Sustainable Sourcing

We believe that independent sustainability audits and certifications are the only way to implement sustainability in a transparent way across global supply chains. At Fair Voyage, we only source verified socially and environmentally responsible suppliers. As part of our Terms of Business, suppliers commit to become independently audited for sustainability by a curated certification body such as those accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).

Tourism touches all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as set by the United Nations (UN) – from sustainable local economic development that empowers tourism workers and local communities, via conservation of nature and wildlife, through to climate action.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), created by UN agencies and prominent international conservation NGOs, has developed and manages a comprehensive set of global sustainability standards for travel and tourism. The GSTC Criteria align with all 17 SDGs. The GSTC also accredits certification bodies for conducting independent audits consistent with the GSTC Criteria.

This means that suppliers audited by a GSTC accredited certification body can reliably prove that they are operating consistent with all SDGs. Therefore, we believe that GSTC accredited certifications are the best and only way to verify the holistic implementation of sustainability on a global scale.

Alignment of Interests

Most importantly, we are making every effort to stay clear of conflicts of interest, so that we maintain the flexibility to continuously re-align our work with our vision for the peaceful and sustainable world that we want to live in.

We have fundamentally structured our legal company objectives, shareholder structure, and—during the pandemic, once again—revised our business model to ensure that we have the freedom to stay clear of legal, financial, personal, business, or other conflicts of interest.

Furthermore, we have clearly defined our values and assess our performance first and foremost not against financial or simplistic sustainability KPIs, but for our daily actions aligned with our values.

We believe that this is the only way an organization can fully align its interests with sustainability and net neutral or positive climate action.

Last updated: 28 April 2022

Are you wondering: Can overseas travel be sustainable at all? Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by flying contribute to global warning. Climate Action is the most urgent of all Sustainable Development Goals—we agree! We also agree that the tourism industry is a major contributor to climate change, and that much of tourism—as practiced nowadays—might be causing more harm than good.

Unfortunately, the same applies to almost all industries, because we do not pay the real costs for the products and services that we consume. There is no doubt—we all need to consume less and more consciously, and we need to start paying fair prices for our consumption!

In travel, this means that we need to travel less and more consciously. For example, instead of going on frequent weekend trips to crowded cities, take a long vacation once a year to travel slowly and explore less visited destinations. It also means that we need to pay more to compensate for the effects of GHG emissions and choose more environmentally friendly options, amongst others.

However, this doesn't mean that we need to stop traveling altogether. To the contrary, we live in a complex global system with lots of inter-dependencies. Taking extreme action towards one goal is likely to come with a lot of negative side consequences that eventually will come to harm that very same goal.

We at Fair Voyage believe travel is not only the problem, but that sustainable travel will be part of the solution to mitigate climate change and other urgent problems—by giving local populations a sustainable income source that will help them and us protect and restore a biodiverse nature; and by fostering the intercultural understanding and global consciousness that we need to co-create [y]our vision for a peaceful and sustainable world.

Imagine a local community living in the rainforest. To make a living, they have the option cut down the forest to make use of the land and wood for food production, construction and firewood for heating. Or they might sell their land to agricultural, forestry or mining companies who again will destroy the forest and its biodiversity. All of these outcomes have negative effects for our climate.

Now imagine we can provide an alternative income source for the communities, a source of income that encourages them to protect and restore the forest and biodiversity. What could that be? Sustainable tourism! Imagine communities can make a living from accommodating travelers, guiding us through their biodiverse habitat and helping us experience their traditional ways of living. That way, we can preserve nature, foster mutual understanding, lift communities out of poverty—and experience a truly enjoyable and sustainable vacation.

To summarize, sustainable travel can be a force for good:

• As a vital source of employment and income, especially for the world's most vulnerable regions
• As a funding source for conservation and restoration of nature, biodiversity and cultural heritage
• As means to foster intercultural understanding and global consciousness

We have already conducted research on the impact of flying and to identify the best GHG offset solutions as part of our climate action plan.

More research is needed on each of the above points, to create more holistic solutions. Would you like to collaborate with us for a research project, share relevant research results or create meaningful solutions? Please email partner@fairvoyage.com.

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Information coming soon.

We are currently redesigning our website and are still in the process of adding more information here.

Please check again in a few days, or email support@fairvoyage.com for urgent questions.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Information coming soon.

We are currently redesigning our website and are still in the process of adding more information here.

Please check again in a few days, or email support@fairvoyage.com for urgent questions.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Information coming soon.

We are currently redesigning our website and are still in the process of adding more information here.

Please check again in a few days, or email support@fairvoyage.com for urgent questions.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding!