by Sarah Howden, Campaign Lead at Climate Perks

GCC’s new Guest Blog series puts the spotlight on organisations across the world who are all working in creative ways to secure an environmentally responsible future. Views expressed are the author’s own. 

Globally, flying is among the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Air travel is the most carbon-intensive activity an individual can take, with a return transatlantic flight churning out more carbon than an entire year of driving.

Arts and culture organisations often have significant business travel footprints, but around 80% of flights taken internationally are for leisure purposes. That means the most effective way to cut aviation emissions is through changing the way we holiday.

Luckily, there’s a simple solution — and employers can help. 

Our research showed that time is a major barrier to low-carbon travel. We found that 50% of people are ready to reduce the amount they fly in response to climate change — but only 3% of us do. Choosing clean travel often means sacrificing hard-earned annual leave: something few of us are willing to do.

That’s why we created Climate Perks. Climate Perks is an employer benefits scheme where staff receive paid ‘journey days’ to choose low-carbon holiday travel instead of flying. Just as employers offer volunteer days to help their teams support causes that matter to them, Climate Perks employers offer additional annual leave to staff who travel on holiday by train, coach or boat instead of flying — empowering them to act on their values.

It’s free to join, and participating employers receive Climate Perks accreditation in recognition of their climate leadership, as well as discounts on eco-friendly holidays, access to press and media opportunities, and resources to help staff book flight-free trips. We’ll also support you to develop and implement the scheme at your workplace, with a policy template, emails to communicate with your employees and draft social media and blog posts for sharing the scheme externally. 

Our 88 members, from businesses to charities and government organisations, are already seeing the benefits of empowering staff to make low-carbon choices. 95% of employers said that Climate Perks adds value to their organisation, with almost three quarters reporting that the scheme boosts employee wellbeing, motivation or recruitment.  

In 2022, the Brunel Museum became the first museum to introduce Climate Perks. Their staff are now entitled to a minimum of two paid “journey days” on top of their annual leave so they are able to take low carbon transport options over flights. Their Director, Katherine McAlpine, said:

“Our museum tells the story of how Marc Brunel devised and created the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world. It also laid the blueprint for all future tunnelling projects, including the Channel Tunnel which today is among the best low carbon way of travelling internationally from Britain. So it feels appropriate that we’re the first museum to sign up to this really important scheme. We’re so pleased to be able to support our employees to make more sustainable travel choices.”

If you’re an employer interested in signing up to Climate Perks, or an employee who would like your organisation to join, get in touch with Sarah here.

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Climate Perks was established by climate action charity Possible in 2019. Possible's mission is to inspire people in the UK to take the action the climate crisis demands. Sarah Howden joined Possible in 2023 as the Climate Perks campaign lead.