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Carbon offsetting Biosphere Expeditions is working with Climate Care on achieving carbon neutrality in its expeditions (i.e. harmful emissions as part of the expedition are offset against donations reducing greenhouse gases). Climate Care is an organisation that invests in projects that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects. The first two displace fossil fuels in the energy generation mix and the latter absorb carbon dioxide. All emissions during the expedition are offset by Biosphere Expeditions, but in addition to this we encourage every expedition team member to work out, on an entirely voluntary basis, the carbon deficit they incur through travelling to the expedition assembly point and back home again. For a relatively small sum, Climate Care can then help to remove from the atmosphere the same amount of carbon dioxide as is produced by flying or other forms of transport to the assembly point. For example, through every hour in a Boeing 747 you personally contribute an equivalent of 123 kg of CO2 to the atmosphere, which would cost about £1 to offset. If you would like to take part in this scheme and work out your carbon deficit, you can do this quickly and easily on the Climate Care website or contact them for assistance. Our position on the carbon debate and flying The current media focus on environmental issues, whilst very welcome and long overdue, has led to a lot of bad press for flying. Some might argue that this is a good thing, but it has left the general public with a somewhat skewed view of the impact of flying and many now feel guilty about taking a holiday that involves a flight. According to a recent straw poll by www.responsibletravel.com, some people think that air travel accounts for around 30% of total emissions whereas in fact it accounts for nearer 5% of total emissions and our homes account for the lion's share with 25% of emissions.  While fully acknowledging the impact of flying on global warming, we believe that it should not be the scapegoat for the world's global warming crisis and below suggest a few simple ways in which you will be able to ‘afford’ your flight with CO2 savings. Typical household emissions per person per year in the UK are around 11 tonnes, yet a return flight from, say London to the Spain project assembly point in Reus, will only emit approximately 0.26 tonnes per person. Or a flight from Frankfurt to the Altai expedition assembly point in Novosibirsk will emit 1.31 tonnes. If you want to be able to ‘afford’ a flight in reduced CO2 emissions, you can easily do this by eliminating some of the 11 tonnes of household emissions – just have a look at the tables below for what can be done and you’ll see it’s actually pretty easy. We also believe strongly that stopping travelling altogether will have a detrimental effect on both local economic development and conservation thereby holding back carbon reduction initiatives in destinations, which need local communities to be educated about their environments, and to be able to afford to invest in low carbon technologies. UK tourists alone currently spend around £2bn a year in developing countries, a figure which comes very close to the UK’s Department for International Development annual budget. Admittedly, not all of this trickles down to local people, but as responsible tourism increases, so this proportion increases too. According to Justin Francis of www.responsibletravel.com: “Air travel contributes to global warming but if we all stopped flying and booking responsible holidays then we will also contribute to global warming as both local economic development and conservation would be negatively impacted.” So in a nutshell, if you follow the suggested or similar household carbon reduction measures, you will be able to go on expedition safe in the knowledge that you will be emitting less carbon than before, and that you will also be supporting local conservation and development – which in turn can help local communities to reduce their own carbon emissions.  Moreover, after having been on expedition with us, we would hope that you return home with strengthened values regarding the environment, resource preservation, and economic wealth, which could lead you to even more sustainable behaviour in your daily life and potentially for the rest of your life. Now if that’s not worth the investment, then we’re not sure what would be!