Sustainable Tourism
At 50 Degrees North we are committed to making a difference. That is why we have been working behind the scenes to calculate the carbon footprint of our most popular and iconic tours.
Most things in our life have a carbon footprint, from the manufacture of the shoes you wear, to the milk in your coffee. By clearly labelling our tours with the carbon emissions they generate, it helps our customers to understand the impact of that tour and enables them to make sustainable decisions, and it shows us as a business where reductions can be made.
The footprint explained
The average carbon footprint of one our land-based tours is approx 260kg CO2e. But what does that compare to?
- A cheeseburger is around 4 kg CO2e
- A one-way flight from New York to Oslo is approx 600 kg CO2e
- The average annual emissions from an Australian is approx 15,150 kg CO2e
Why are we doing this?
To put it simply; the planet is in crisis. Science has shown that in order to avert the worst impacts of climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 50% by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050.
In 2021 we became the first Nordic Tour Operator to commit to combating climate change through the signing of the United Nations Glasgow Declaration; which commits its signatories to the goal of reducing their carbon emissions in line with UN recommendations. This is the most ambitious, but important, movement within the travel industry to combat climate change, and one we are committed to play our part in through the release of our Climate Action Plan. Measuring and sharing the carbon footprint of our tours is just one small part of this plan.
You can read our full Climate Action Plan here
How did we calculate the footprint?
We don't claim to be experts in understanding carbon measurements, so we have collaborated with a company that is. In 2022, we partnered with eCollective, a dedicated carbon consulting firm whose team of experts are passionate about helping companies understand and measure their carbon emissions. Understanding the carbon footprint of every element of our business is an incredibly complex task, and we do not claim that it is perfect, but we are confident that with their assistance we are using the most accurate method that currently exists in the industry.
The footprint shown is the footprint of every element that we include on our tours. So included local transport, accommodation, activities, meals, tour guides (if included) and even the footprint of our business emissions. You can see a breakdown of what is included on each trip page.
As we do not include flights to/from the destinations we have not included the emissions from these in our calculations. However, we are very conscious of the impact of these, with flights typically being the largest carbon emitting aspect of a holiday. Please see our 'Tips for Travellers' section for useful advice on how to book the most fuel-efficient airline, and our recommendations on flight offsetting.
You can view our detailed methodology here.
Why do some of your tours have a higher footprint?
You may have noticed that some of our tours have a comparatively large footprint when compared to others. This can come down to a number of factors, but it often reflects the length of the tour (the longer the tour the higher the footprint), the number of inclusions and also the type of experience it is.
Our tours which include a coastal voyage tend to have a higher footprint as travelling by ship does emit more carbon emissions. Experiencing the Norwegian Fjords by ship is an iconic and important element of many of our passengers' visit to our region, and provides a vital source of income to isolated communities. So rather than exclude this element, we are committed to improving the sustainability of the experience by only partnering with cruise operators that have strong emission reduction strategies.
What else are you doing to become more sustainable?
Every tour on our website is now fully carbon offset through verified carbon offsetting schemes, making us a fully carbon neutral tour company. However, carbon offsetting alone is not enough, it is only part of the solution. Our main focus is to bring down our emissions, and measuring, sharing and working towards reducing the carbon footprint of every one of our tours and our own business operations is part of our journey to net zero.
Lowering our carbon emissions is just one of the many ways we are committed to creating a more sustainable future. Please see our sustainability page to see what else we are doing.
