Selective Asia is proud to be a founding signatory of Tourism Declares - a group of like-minded travel organisations who are collectively declaring a climate emergency, and (crucially) acting to reverse it. We have committed to be open about our impact on the environment, to actively reduce this, and to develop a more sustainable industry by advocating positive change. We are also a signatory and launch partner of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.
publicly accepts the current IPCC advice that we must cut global carbon emissions to 55% (below 2017 levels) by 2030 to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming
commits to publicly communicating both our plan and our progress
shall continue to work internally and with our partners to develop products with a low carbon footprint, and to actively promote and encourage responsible accommodation and modes of transport in our destinations
will encourage our suppliers and partners to make their own declarations, and (with the Tourism Declares community) to share best practice and solutions with the wider travel industry
recognises the need for systemic change across the industry, and will join others in calling for urgent regulatory action to accelerate the transition towards zero carbon air travel
We have always strived to be better and do better. In the past few years, and despite the obvious challenges created by the pandemic, Selective Asia has overhauled all operations, putting sustainability at the core of what we do. We are committed to representing our progress honestly and transparently and actively seeking external assessment and guidance. After an 18 month application and assessment process we have become B-Corp certified, have begun developing a thorough carbon monitoring system, selected a new partner who we believe will help us make a real difference by mitigating our carbon impact more effectively, and committed to be advocates for change in our industry.
To tackle the issues created by travel, we have put together a clear and achievable climate action plan. Our approach is informed by four elements: measure, reduce, mitigate and communicate. We want to use carbon benchmarks and goals so that we can comprehensively monitor the impact of your trips and the running of our company. We aim to achieve the goals established below by August 2022.
We are developing a thorough method for monitoring the carbon impact of our trips, from flights to local transport, and eventually including accommodation impact, too. Not only will this help us choose the correct mitigation, but will also let us advise clients of the impact of each segment of their trip, enabling them to make carbon-conscious decisions and reduce their overall footprint.
To limit our carbon impact as far as possible, we are advocating good practice internally and measuring our own operational usage, and actively helping our clients to choose more low-carbon options (for instance, fewer internal flights, and optimal routes that minimise transport use).
After comprehensive research, we've chosen C-level as our partner to mitigate the carbon impact of our trips through reforestation projects in Asia. Each holiday we sell will automatically include this, and Selective Asia will add a further contribution.
We've always communicated about our destinations with honesty, and we extend this to clear open communication about each holiday’s carbon impact and overall sustainability performance, along with a company-wide bi-annual carbon report of all holidays taken.