Dr. Susanne Etti is a climate scientist and the Global Environmental Impact Manager of Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest adventure travel company and a leader in sustainable travel. She recently became one of our newest trustees, so we got her thoughts on how well the tourism industry is addressing the climate crisis.

You were at COP27 this year. How do you think it went?

It was a rollercoaster of emotions. There was outrage, as we all now know that there were no new targets or commitments, nor was there any promise to phase out all fossil fuels, beyond the 2021 pledge to phase down coal power. However, there was optimism too thanks to the new ‘loss and damage’ fund agreed to assist vulnerable countries affected by climate change. This is an important step for climate justice. And there were other wins too. Indonesia is being assisted to phase out coal and more organisations have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, which was launched at COP26 in 2021. Personally, I felt more filled with energy and hope at some of the side events like the high-level World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) panel at COP27, alongside other sustainability leaders to share innovations that other tourism businesses and destinations can easily adopt.  As a trainer and mentor in the Climate Reality Project, I’m always advocating for more individuals to learn more and take the next step on their own advocacy journey.  It was an honour to meet US Vice President Al Gore and other climate leaders reminding us of the real impact we can make on our communities.

From a tourism point of view, we really need other sectors to move on climate now. Transportation being the obvious one. How is the travel industry going to phase out fossil fuels when transport plays such a vital role? Aviation is going to take longer to transition away so rapid investment and innovation in ground transportation and accommodation is essential. We also need many more tourism businesses to sign up to the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. 750 organisations have now signed but it’s a drop in the ocean in terms of the numbers needed to work at scale.

Read more about Susanne’s thoughts on COP27

Let’s talk more about the Glasgow Declaration. Can you tell me more about that and how you got involved?

The Glasgow Declaration is a commitment to a decade of climate action in tourism. Signatories pledge to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. They must produce climate action plans within a year of signing and report long and short-term progress annually. Intrepid was involved from the start. I remember Jeremy Smith (Co-founder of Tourism Declares and the Glasgow Declaration and Climate Specialist at The Travel Foundation) and I walking up and down the aisles at the World Travel Market in November 2019 talking about what climate action could look like for tour operators. Tourism Declares A Climate Emergency was launched shortly afterwards in January 2020, with Intrepid as a founding member. Initially I shaped what was needed for tour operators, built a community of practice, created a measurement guide for tour operators and onboarded new signatories. Tourism Declares was a key member of the five-party Drafting Committee for the Glasgow Declaration, which UNWTO launched at COP26 in November 2021. I now sit on the working group for the Glasgow Declaration. We’re currently developing a checklist for SMEs on how they can start measuring emissions.

That’s a huge undertaking and I’m very aware we’ve not spoken yet about your main role, so can you tell me more about your work at Intrepid and what action they have taken to reduce their carbon emissions?

My role at Intrepid Travel is mainly centred about global decarbonisation of the business, but there is a fair bit of advocacy work too, such The Glasgow Declaration and with the B Corp community, via the AANZ BCorp Climate collective. Intrepid became the world’s largest carbon neutral travel company back in 2010, so it was a natural step for us to work on Tourism Declares and The Glasgow Declaration. We want to share best practice with others and encourage them on their own journey. In 2020 we were thrilled to become the first tour operator in the world with a verified science-based emission reduction target to reduce emissions to ensure business is on track for low carbon growth. Setting science-based climate targets will see Intrepid reduce emissions across all operations and supply chains for a 1.5°C future. We’re pleased to see more travel companies setting science-based targets and hope that others come on board too.

As a climate scientist, why did you decide to focus on the travel sector? Have you always worked in travel?

No, during my PhD I worked for a start-up carbon offsetting company, which was one of the first businesses out there offsetting, as it was before the 2005 Kyoto Protocol was agreed. I found I enjoyed working in industry rather than academia as solutions were already there and could be accelerated through business. I relocated from Europe to Australia in 2008 and moved to a corporate sustainability consultancy role, helping fossil fuel and chemical multinationals in Thailand improve their sustainability performance and measurements. I know the power that travel can have in transformative change and what a meaningful role it can play in climate and conservation, so when the role at Intrepid came up it felt like a great fit for me. They were already doing great things in climate responsibility, and I wanted to push that further by introducing science-based targets and becoming more involved in advocacy and change beyond one company.

Find out more about Susanne’s career journey in climate science

What advice can you give to tourism businesses just starting off on their climate journey?

Sign up to the Glasgow Declaration. It might seem daunting, but by signing up you’ll become part of a bigger movement. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice too. I’m particularly keen to see and support more SMEs to sign up. Echidna Walkabout is a great example of a tourism SME who have already drawn up their climate action plan. For those who have already started, make sure your climate action plan is ambitious and have accountability to make sure plans are delivered. Also, look at how you can make improvements as you go. At Intrepid we have invested in working out emissions per product per day per person rather than just an average. It’s an ongoing journey!

What do you see as the main barriers for reducing carbon emissions in tourism? And the main opportunities?

One of the biggest challenges has got to be the continued lack of action at a government level as well as a lack of financing, particularly after the pandemic. Also, businesses can’t see the cost benefit of embarking on a carbon emission reduction journey. However, that also means we have an opportunity to engage and show what cost benefits there are to reducing emissions and share the tools that are out there to help.

What do you think are the key areas the travel industry should focus on in the run up to 2030?

First is measurement. Businesses need to start measuring emissions. If they don’t, then they cannot begin decarbonising. And second is radical collaboration, especially along the supply chain, which is where the greatest impact of carbon is. Good relationships are essential for this. We need to engage suppliers and bring them along on the carbon journey. Travel is a complex industry, and we are all in a supply chain and dependent on each other to make this positive change.

And finally, let’s end on a high. Can you tell me about some organisations taking positive action to tackle the climate crisis?

Visit Valancia is doing great things at a destination level. Valencia is the first global destination to verify the calculation of the carbon footprint of its tourism activity. At an SME level, Florida-based B-Corp Legacy Vacation Resorts have set Science Based Targets for scope 1 and 2 emissions. They also do a lot of customer education around climate change in their destination.

More about Susanne

Susanne has a PhD in natural science specializing in climate change and vector borne diseases. Her work at Intrepid Travel centers around global decarbonization specifically around climate change performance, biodiversity, carbon reporting, and transitioning the business to the low-carbon economy. Susanne is an experienced leader in the areas of reporting, strategy, knowledge management and sustainability with a focus on climate change. She has worked in Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and South America across a variety of sectors, exposing her to best practices from many industries.  Susanne’s work has been published in academic journals around the world with further contributions and perspectives appearing in outlets such as Washington Post and The New York Times. She is a regular guest speaker, conference panelist, mentor and in 2022 was recognized by Adweek as one of their 12 sustainability superstars.