Mitigating the Consequences of Climate Change

Kuoni recognises the clear consensus within the scientific community that climate change caused by human activities is occurring now. According to the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), tourism is responsible for about 5% of global CO₂ emissions. 75% of these tourism-driven CO₂ emissions are caused by passenger transport, 21% by accommodation and 4% by activities at the holiday destinations. Often the places that attract tourists – fragile coastal zones, islands and mountains – are also the ones under most threat from climate change. Our aim is to reduce our own direct emissions and emissions in the value chain, including those of our customers, and to build the adaptive capacity in the destinations.

Measuring and monitoring our carbon footprint

Kuoni aims to reduce its absolute and relative greenhouse gas emissions due to its operations as much as possible. In order to set viable and meaningful reduction targets, we must first know the nature and sources of our carbon footprint. Thus, measuring and reporting such emissions in our operations along internationally-recognised guidelines and scientifically sound methodologies is of utmost importance. In the past year, we have taken on the challenge of integrating all 300 Kuoni offices, travel agencies and facilities worldwide in our carbon footprint. While this will take time to complete, we are already closing some gaps in our reporting. For 2011, we are able to report for our five largest business units in the leisure travel market – namely Scandinavia, Switzerland, France, India and the UK. This accounts for approximately 55% of all Kuoni facilities worldwide. Data related to energy consumption and carbon emissions due to our operations can be found here.

Sharing our expertise with hoteliers

The issue of climate change needs to be addressed at various levels and by various participants, each using the appropriate means at their disposal. To help our partner hotels play their part in protecting environmental resources, we have been conducting a series of workshops in collaboration with local partners. The workshops provide a platform for experts and advisors who are familiar with the local situation and the latest findings on climate change and environmental resource management.  Read about our environmental care workshops in Thailand and Bulgaria here.

Novair optimises operations for maximum flight efficiency

Despite its modest size – its fleet consists of 4 airplanes – Kuoni’s only charter airline Novair is a key advisor in major international projects in cooperation with different bodies in the European Union. Novair was, for example, the only Swedish carrier to participate in the AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions) project, funded by the EU and which aimed to find ways to reduce carbon emissions and noise. Through the project, an advanced navigation system was used to avoid flying over populated areas and featured highly accurate wind information uplinked to the aircraft, which was integrated in the “green curved approach” to reduce drag and fuel consumption. First results proved that over 500kg of CO₂ could be saved per approach. During the project period 6% of the carbon emissions were reduced.
In addition, as a participant in the SESAR initiative – the European air traffic control infrastructure modernization programme – Novair works to help develop a new air traffic management system capable of ensuring the safety and energy efficiency of air transport over the next 30 years. View Novair’s carbon footprint for 2011 here.

offering carbon offsets

In collaboration with Green Seat, we support a composting project in Egypt to offer our customers from Apollo Scandinavia and Kuoni Netherlands the opportunity to offset their flight emissions. The most common practice for disposing agricultural waste there is to dump it at municipal waste sites or in the desert where it decomposes and releases harmful methane emissions into the atmosphere, which leads to climate change. By composting the organic waste, greenhouse gases emissions are diminished and the compost can be used to fertilize agricultural grounds, resulting in improved soil conditions. Visit Green Seat for more information.

Through the offsetting organization myclimate, Kuoni supports a waste disposal project in Bali which provides jobs for some 120 people and recycles some 50 tonnes of waste every day. The project also provides a valuable source of income for local inhabitants who collect the waste in the first place and are remunerated for what they hand in. Since around 85% of the total waste produced on the island is organic, a lot of the waste processed by the facility can be converted into valuable compost, which is then sold to nearby farmers. For further details on the Kuoni and myclimate composting project, click here.

Offsetting our own carbon emissions

Any company will inevitably generate a certain amount of business travel, especially if it is active in international markets. Kuoni strives to live up to its environmental responsibilities here too:  all business travel undertaken by employees of Kuoni Switzerland, France, UK, India and Scandinavia and by staff at the Kuoni Headquarters in Zurich has its CO₂ emissions offset. This is done through our partnership project with the organisations myclimate and Green Seat. Read more about the carbon footprint of our business travel here.