What’s the difference between carbon neutral and Net Zero?

By Dominic Oliver

Lover of literature and all things travel. Probably happiest sitting on a tiny plastic stool on the side of a bustling Vietnamese street

Published on Dec 01, 2022

At Contiki, we want you to enjoy the life-changing experience of exploring the world. We want you to spot the big five on safari. To sip Aperol on a sun-bleached terrace. To wander spotless sands or hear the full-blooded roar of a rainforest, teeming with plants and wildlife. Basically, we want to share the gift of travel with you and generations to come, just as we have done for 60+ years. But the impacts of climate change are universal. And ignoring them ain’t gonna make them go away.

That’s why, in January 2022 we made the steps to become a carbon neutral organisation. This took heaps of work, and hey – we were pretty proud of it. But no one ever changed the world by staying neutral. The science has spoken, and it’s clear that carbon offsetting isn’t enough. So we’re shifting from neutral into gear, and we’re going for Net Zero.

But what’s the difference between the two? Has our Climate Action Plan changed? And how are we investing even more in a low-carbon future? Read on to find out!

Feeling inspired?

The next step in Contiki’s Climate Action Plan

So, what’s the difference anyway?

Carbon neutral means balancing the carbon you’re emitting by reducing the same amount of carbon somewhere else. So, when we went carbon neutral, we did it by offsetting and purchasing verified carbon credits from our partner, South Pole . (Basically, for each tonne of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted into the air, we paid to prevent one tonne of GHG emissions from entering the atmosphere). Sounds ideal, right? Well…unfortunately not. The climate crisis demands we stop producing carbon: period. And that’s where Net Zero comes in.

Because Net Zero isn’t just about offsetting. It’s about heavily reducing carbon emissions in the first place (by addressing things like energy and water consumption, food waste reduction, and transportation emissions to name a few). Then for any leftover, unavoidable emissions, it’s about investing in carbon removal projects (nature-based solutions that actually pull carbon out of our atmosphere), rather than just offsetting. Hence: net zero emissions. Ok, ok, it doesn’t sound quite as snappy as “we’re carbon neutral.” And it’s a bit more complicated to explain. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do.

And with our move from neutrality to Net Zero, we also needed to accelerate our Climate Action plan. So here are three huge new targets we’re ready to smash. (They’re validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), so we didn’t just pull them out of a hat).

Short Term Targets (2030)

Reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 46.2% by 2030 from a 2019 base year
Reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, business travel, and use of sold products 27.5% within the same timeframe

Long Term Target (2050)

Reduce absolute scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 90% by 2050 from a 2019 base year

Get in, we’re going for zero

Our plan isn’t about one quick fix, because…there isn’t one. It’s about our commitment to learn and adapt as human behaviour, technology and innovations provide new and exciting ways to decarbonise. That’s why we’ve reset our Climate Action Plan, to 4 points, replacing Remove and Offset with Restore:

Measure
Measure the emissions from our business and trips.

Reduce
Reduce emissions to achieve our verified science-based targets – read more about them here. We’ve even established a Carbon Fund to help fund our transition to net zero. (This is a big deal – putting money where our mouth is, basically).

Restore
Invest in nature-based carbon removal solutions and conservation efforts to help support projects that can restore our planet. These projects will be funded via our TreadRight Foundation.

Evolve
Continue to learn from others, invest in new technologies and support strategic alliances that enable us and the industry to move to a low carbon economy.

This is just the beginning, and we’re excited to step up our game as we continue towards a future for travel that has coral reefs blushed pink instead of bleached white. That has skies filled with the sounds of parakeets, rather than heavy clouds of smog. In another 60+ years we want to still be showing Contiki travellers the spine-tingling beauty of this wonderful world. So, let’s keep it that way, eh?