Carbon Offsetting: Making Travel Sustainable

Air travel accounts for 2.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions, the most common greenhouse gas, which has a huge impact in global warming. This, in addition to ground transport, the use of electricity and air conditioning in hotels and lodges, among other practices, make it hard for the travel industry to be environmentally friendly.

Carbon offsetting is a practice that offers travellers a way to mitigate this impact.

At Galavanta, we are offering travellers the option of calculating the tonnes of carbon emitted as a result of their transport, lodging and daily personal waste emissions, as part of our new carbon offset programme. We will create the opportunity for our clients to ‘balance’ the carbon emitted on their journeys by contributing to reforestation programs, or personally take part in reforestation activities and wildlife conservation initiatives in some of the key destinations where we operate, such as Los Llanos, Sierra Nevada and the surrounding regions of Cartagena. These are areas with delicate ecosystems that are highly threatened, and reforestation is an essential way to preserve the area and its wildlife. 

We seek to avoid employing carbon balancing as a single ‘box-ticking’ exercise, but rather as more as one part of a wider mix of strategies: Measuring footprint, managing environmental impact, and actively reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), whilst at the same time having real conservation impact on the ground. 

This approach will result in more protection of Colombia’s natural wealth, empowering local economies, and offering a sustainable way of travel that will allow us to keep enjoying these destinations, whilst having a positive impact.