Transport options on many of Intrepid Travel’s itineraries will be replaced with lower carbon alternatives such as high speed rail as part of a new environmental commitment.
A newly-launched range of closer to home trips is being expanded to more than 100 itineraries in 2021 to provide options with shorter or no flights required.
Intrepid will also be reducing international business travel, procuring renewable electricity and switching to 100% renewable energy in its global offices by 2025.
It will seek to reduce emissions across its operations and trips as part of a further transformation of its business for a low-carbon future.
The pledge was made as Intrepid said it had become the first operator in the world with verified science-based targets.
The company’s 2035 emissions reduction targets are in line with a 1.5°C degree target in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
They have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative – a collaboration between four organisations, including the United Nations Global Compact – to promote best practices around corporate climate action and independently assess and approve companies’ targets.
Chief executive James Thornton said: “Intrepid’s verified science-based targets mark the most significant step we’ve taken on our climate journey in the past 15 years.
“Setting science-based targets is widely considered the most effective way for companies to take significant climate action, and we’re proud to be building our business towards a 1.5°C future.
“Our hope is that we can use this as a rallying cry to the entire industry that climate action needs to be a critical priority in travel’s post-Covid recovery. We simply can’t rebuild at the expense of the planet.”