www.stc.co.uk

Climate Care

We at Switzerland Travel Centre know of the damage travelling causes to the environment. As you may be aware, air travel releases gases that contribute to global warming, such as carbon dioxide. In fact, your flight will be the largest environmental impact of your holiday.

We’ve teamed up with an environmental organisation, Climate Care, to help you to repair the damage your holiday does to the climate. Climate Care funds sustainable energy and forest restoration projects that reduce carbon dioxide on your behalf, by the same amount as your share of the plane emits.

Examples include a project in India to help schools move on to renewable cooking fuel and a project in Uganda that is restoring the rainforest in Kibale National Park.

The cost of “offsetting your emissions” for a return flight to Switzerland is just £1.70 per person and we included this amount in all our package prices. If you would prefer not to pay this contribution, then just let us know at the time of booking and we will deduct it from your invoice.

Project information

Climate Care supports a mix of projects that include energy and forest restoration projects across the world:

	Clean stoves in Mexico Our project is working in Mexico to make fuel efficient cooking stoves available in some of the poorest communities. This supports conservation by reducing the wood needed for cooking. It also benefits the householders by removing smoke from the kitchen and dramatically cutting the health risk from wood smoke. Each stove saves about 3 tonnes of CO2 a year.
	Treadle pumps in India In the Chhattisgarh region of India, irrigation is vital for farmers to grow crops outside the monsoon season, and ensure an income all year round. Many farmers have to rent diesel pumps at a significant cost to them. By using manual power instead of diesel, each treadle pump reduces diesel fuel use by 0.45 litres per hour on average, saving 0.65 tonnes of CO2 per year. Farmers have also seen their annual income double.
	Rainforest restoration in Uganda We are funding part of a forest restoration programme in the Kibale National Park in Uganda. The project aims to re-create a rainforest canopy by planting and managing 30 species of local trees. The area is an important wildlife habitat – with one of the highest number of primate species in the world - and the project provides employment for local communities. The project is expected to save 400 tonnes per hectare of rainforest each year.