Whenever we start a car or jump onto an airplane, we emit harmful emissions into the air, known as greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). GHGs are caused in part by the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) to keep our gas tanks full and our fossil-fuel based transportation system moving. GHGs trap heat from the sun within our atmosphere and the more GHGs that we emit into the atmosphere, the more heat is trapped – warming our planet.  

A carbon footprint encompasses the total amount of carbon that was emitted into the atmosphere to provide a product or service.

HAGGiS Adventures worked with a third-party consultant to measure the carbon footprint of our tours. Here’s what we considered in scope and our responsibility to offset

• Transfers: any transportation provided as part of the tour
• Meals: any included meals as part of the tour
• Accommodations: all accommodations included within the tour.

We took a regional approach to measuring these emissions, to ensure regional specific emission factors were used where possible. We will review and update the carbon footprint of our tours every three years using our custom tour emission calculator.

Here’s what we considered out of scope and will not be included as part of our tour carbon footprint

• Traveller’s air travel to and from the destination
• All pre and post services not included in the price of the tour
• Emissions produced by facilities or buildings we visit on our tours (e.g., visitor attractions). These emissions are considered the responsibility of the facility as determined by internationally accepted principles for emissions accounting.
• Meals purchased by the traveller

Science based targets are ambitious targets approved by the Science Based Target Initiative to ensure businesses reduce their emissions to limit the global temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C in order to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change

• HAGGiS Adventures is taking several steps to reduce the carbon footprint of our tours: We use the most fuel-efficient Euro 6 coaches, and we are assessing the use of biofuels for these coaches.
• All of our premises are run on 100% renewable electricity: our shop and bus yard in Edinburgh, and our accommodation on Skye and Loch Ness.
• We work with local suppliers to continually increase the selection of the freshest local food products we use, reducing GHGs associated with transport and increasing local food security.
• We have a dedicated “Green Team” who ensure we operate in a more sustainable way. Examples include switching to an accredited sustainable stationary supplier, getting bottled milk delivered to our Edinburgh office, signing up to the “Bike to Work Scheme” and installing a shower at our HQ Edinburgh office. These steps have led to us achieving a gold Green Tourism award across all our businesses.  
• To help restore the Caledonian Forest we have pioneered an Eco Scheme where you can make an optional £2 donation when booking any tour. We will match every £1 you donate, with proceeds going to the leading Scottish environmental charity, the Trees for Life.

In 2022, when we set our science-based targets we aligned ourselves with the Net-Zero Standard which focuses on emission reductions through direct action within our own business and supply chain. This prompted us to establish a dedicated carbon fund to finance our low-carbon transition. This means that rather than offsetting the emissions we might produce, we are investing in emissions reductions across our business.