WHY IT RATES: The travel industry can and should do more to help combat climate change. Intrepid Travel continues to be an industry leader on this critical issue by choosing to support the upcoming Global Climate Strike.-Mia Taylor, TravelPulse Senior Writer.
Intrepid Travel is urging the industry to join the Global Climate Strike on Friday, September 20.
The leader in responsible travel - who earlier this year announced plans to become "climate positive" by 2020 - is encouraging agent partners and the wider travel community to take part in the global mass day of action, three days before the United Nations climate summit in New York.
In an unprecedented step, Intrepid is closing its global headquarters in Melbourne, Australia for the day, and urging its global staff to leave work in their respective cities, to allow employees to participate.
Intrepid Travel's New York office will also close for the day to join in the rally in Manhattan's Financial District, led by youth activist Greta Thunberg.
Strikes are planned in 120 countries across the world and organizers expect hundreds of thousands of people to protest government inaction on climate change.
In an open letter, James Thornton, Intrepid's CEO, said: "We are at a pivotal moment in time. Taking definitive action to fight the climate crisis is critical. Children around the world have been leading the way through the Climate Strike movement, and now is the time for adults - and business leaders - to stand up and support the call for immediate action.
At Intrepid, we believe that we have a particular responsibility to take climate action - because flying is a big contributor to emissions, and we want to ensure we are doing everything we can to mitigate our impact. We have been climate neutral since 2010, and in 2020 we will become a Climate Positive business.
We firmly believe that there are positive solutions available - but change is happening too slowly. We need individuals, businesses and governments to work together to make change happen. This is especially true now when short-term decision making is putting future generations at risk."
The company has joined B-Corp business collective This is not business as usual, a group of global companies pledging to support worker participation in the strike.
"Every business can do something, whether it's closing the doors, having a meeting-free day, allowing a long lunch, or sending an email to make it clear teams will not be penalized for taking a few hours off," the companies said.
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