We are all aware of the declared ‘Climate Emergency’. Although Green activists have been raising concerns about the risks of human activity to our planet for decades, the campaign has achieved real impetus thanks to the actions of Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg, and TV programmes such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet. In fact, according to a recent report in The Independent, concern about climate change in the UK is higher than it’s been for a decade.
As the new year has begun, many of us are booking holidays with family and friends. Often, this will involve flying to Europe or further afield as we seek out a destination that has a warmer or more predictable climate than the UK’s. Flying is popular because it’s a much quicker way to travel than boat, train or coach, and when we’re using up our annual leave, we don’t want to waste any of our valuable time. But it comes at a cost to the environment: air travel is a significant source of greenhouse gases. This causes a big dilemma to many eco-conscious travellers who are torn between the desire to go globetrotting and the guilt of causing damage to the planet.
‘Climate Perks’ is an interesting solution to address this problem. It encourages employers to offer staff a minimum of two paid ‘journey days’ each year to be added to their periods of annual leave. The idea is that the extra days will be used to travel to holiday destinations utilising low-carbon options (as an alternative to flying) without eating into valuable holiday entitlement.
According to an article in The Guardian, more than 30 employers have so far signed up to the scheme. For further information, visit the Climate Perks website.
