Euroventure Travel becomes first tour operator in the world to be carbon negative

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Leeds, UK

On 6 February 2020, Euroventure Travel, a company specialising in rail package holidays, group tours and custom itineraries, announced that they are now carbon negative. As of Thursday, 6th of February 2020, all of the emissions caused by their day to day business operations and customer holidays will be accounted for and a new carbon reduction scheme will be put in place. This will mean that their emissions are not only offset but reduced by 200%, allowing the business to have an overall positive impact on the environment.

The average four-week holiday around Europe by train emits around 200kg of carbon, compared to 1.5 tonnes doing the equivalent itinerary by plane. Although this is already one of the greenest ways to travel, in order to offset the amount pledged Euroventure will keep track of the carbon produced by every journey and accommodation stay using official data from partners.

The first phase of the scheme will contribute to a reforestation effort which will help to re-populate the vast areas of woodland lost in the recent Australian wildfires. This unprecedented disaster has caused massive damage to Australia’s ecosystem, and without efforts to re-plant and rebuild the country, it is likely to continue to suffer as their carbon output rises dramatically. 

By choosing to plant trees here, Euroventure are not only working to reduce overall global carbon emissions but are helping to provide crucial support to the people and wildlife who lost their homes practically overnight. CEO Kevin Cabra Netherton commented “more than 660,000 people in Australia depend on tourism for their livelihoods and we are proud to offer our support to friends and partners in the industry to show that Australia is still open for business”.

Euroventure holds a unique position in the travel industry in that most of its trips are done entirely by rail, with other low-carbon methods of transport such as coaches being used where trains are unavailable. The company was also the first to offer a full European group tour programme for environmentally focused travellers who want to explore the continent with a group of like-minded individuals.

Following the decision, Kevin commented “the world is in a climate crisis and the worst thing about it is that it is not that hard for us to do something about it.”

“If I’m honest, I heard that Microsoft announced that they were aiming to be carbon negative by 2030 and I thought that if a huge company can do it, then absolutely Euroventure can too! I thought that 10 years was a little unambitious to sort ourselves out, so instead, we did it in a week.”

“I want every business out there to look at this climate crisis in the same way that we are. Becoming carbon neutral is not enough, we need to actively be taking more carbon out of the atmosphere than we are putting in if we want a fighting chance of preventing everything from sea level rise to the recent wildfires in Australia. The fact is that the environment is becoming a threat to humanity and business right now. We are not making business decisions based on hypothetical risks at some point in the future, we are making business decisions based on risks that are happening to us today.”  

In order to ensure the success of the project, the company have pledged the following:

• Consistently monitor and review the businesses total output of carbon-based emissions.
• Fund enough carbon capture schemes to not only counterbalance the carbon that Euroventure produces as a business but offset the same amount again, actively helping to reduce global warming. 
• Continue to propose and implement schemes which can further the eco-friendly aspect of the company.

Watch the video here.

ABOUT EUROVENTURE TRAVEL
Euroventure provides complete set rail itineraries, custom routes and group tours using sustainable travel methods. They take care of everything, with award-winning 24-hour customer service, tried-and-tested accommodation options in hostels or hotels and a team of experienced travel experts on hand to help book your perfect trip. They aim to provide environmentally friendly, scenic and authentic trips, regardless of whether a customer is a first-time traveller or a seasoned veteran. Their customers rate Euroventure 4.9 stars overall and 99% would recommend them to a friend.

INFORMATION AND MEDIA
For media enquiries including photo and video please see https://www.euroventure.com/sustainable-travel/ or contact:
Scott Batchelor
scott@euroventure.com
+44 7493770690

For out of hours contact:
Kevin Cabra Netherton
kevin@euroventure.com
+44 7875359457