Sustainability

As part of our commitment to sustainability, we’ve declared a climate emergency. 

To help focus our efforts, Giveback is a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism (co-drafted by Tourism Declares, UNWTO, UNEP, Travel Foundation and VisitScotland).

We’re also a part of Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, a global community of over 400 tourism organisations, companies and professionals, all committed to delivering a Climate Action Plan aligned with the need to cut emissions in half by 2030.

Our Climate Declaration

We declare our shared commitment to unite all stakeholders in transforming tourism to deliver effective climate action.

We support the global commitment to halve emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.

We will consistently align our actions with the latest scientific recommendations, so as to ensure our approach remains consistent with a rise of no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.

As a signatory, we commit to:

1. Deliver a climate action plan within 12 month of signing.
2. Report publicly both progress against interim and long-term targets, as well as the actions being taken, at least annually.
3. Align our plan with five shared pathways (measure, decarbonise, regenerate, collaborate, finance) to ensure climate action is consistent across all of tourism.
4. Share information on activities connected to Tourism Declares and/or the Glasgow Declaration among contacts and networks.
5. Work in a collaborative and constructive spirit with other members of Tourism Declares and/or signatories of the Glasgow Declaration.

Our Climate Action Plan

As part of our membership of these two organisations, we have created a Climate Action Plan. Our plan has two key aims; to reduce our own impact on the planet and, to help our community to reduce their impacts too.

Our working and operating practices

• Our home office is powered by 100% renewable energy. We will ensure that this continues, even if this means we end up paying more on our energy bills.
• We aim to keep our computer equipment in good working order and aim to keep them in use until their power becomes a hindrance in our work. When we do eventually replace our equipment, we will ensure it either reconditioned and goes to a good home, or we will ensure it is correctly recycled.
• Our website is currently hosted on a server that is powered by 100% renewable energy.
• 1% of any revenue generated via Stripe will be donated to carbon removal projects.

Our travel activity

• We are committed to limiting our flight activity as much as possible. In the first instance, we will always seek to travel overland and via public transport. If price and practicality becomes a problem, we will then reconsider our travel plans.
• Regardless of whether or not we have flown to our destination, we will seek to personally engage with environmental and conservation activity in the destinations we visit.
• As much as possible, we will seek to avoid staying in Airbnbs and holiday lets in city centres, instead prioritising hotels and hostels with eco-friendly credentials.
• Through our engagement in tree planting projects, we intend to offset 100% of the carbon emissions from both our travels and our personal lives.

Our interactions and partnerships

• We commit to only engaging with organisations and companies who have clear sustainability credentials. We are aware of greenwashing and how to spot it and we will always seek first or third-party clarity on sustainability claims.
• We will prioritise interactions and partnerships with organisations and companies who have signed-up to the Glasgow Declaration and/or Tourism Declares.

Our content

This section relates primarily to the content on our blog, but can also apply to the content in our app.

• We will prioritise publishing information on overland public transport options before information on flights.
• We will continue to promote less-explored places to help combat overtourism.
• We commit to helping our readers understand the importance of taking personal responsibility when it comes to sustainability. We will aim to demonstrate how taking easy steps in our personal lives and taking smart decisions in our travels can have a domino effect. Once we start making demands and becoming activists, companies will listen.
• We will prioritise the promotion of sustainable tours and activities and we will particularly focus on promoting conservation and environmental activities.
• We will only promote cafes and restaurants who are either fully vegan or who serves a wide selection of vegan dishes. 
• We will remove references to meat eating that we published before we switched to veganism.
• We will share our work on social media and via our newsletter to help spread the word on sustainable travel and how/why it’s good for us all.

Our climate action plan is fluid, meaning we may adjust or add elements at any time. We want to be transparent, so if we ever do make changes to the plan, we’ll publish the details of the changes on this page. 

Annual Reports

A significant part of creating a Climate Action Plan is reporting on its impact. It is our intention to create an impact report annually and publish it in full right here.

Our 2024 report in currently being created and will be publishd here shortly.