The Conscious Travel Foundation’s Climate Portfolio
Collaborative climate action by members of The Conscious Travel Foundation
Participating members
The Climate Portfolio
The Conscious Travel Foundation is a global NGO that advocates for a positive relationship between tourism and the planet. Our Climate Portfolio supports 3 impactful projects that contribute to the removal and mitigation of travel’s unavoidable emissions
Greenhouse Gas Destruction
Collection and destruction of refrigerants and potent non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs)
Aperam BioEnergia Biochar
Biochar project in Brazil, removing carbon and benefitting the soil and communities
Efficient Cookstoves Rwanda
Improved cookstoves burning less fuel reducing the burden on women and children
Our projects in detail
Find out more about our 3 high-quality carbon projects located around the world
Greenhouse Gas Destruction
This project exists to improve the environment by collecting, controlling, and destroying refrigerants and halon fire suppressants, which are potent non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs), some of which deplete the ozone layer. This collective activity seeks to prevent the annual release of at least 3 million tons of CO2 equivalent into the atmosphere and is critical to avoiding climate change. The Montreal Protocol effectively banned new production of ozone-depleting substances, but large volumes were produced before the ban, risking re-release into the atmosphere.
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Aperam BioEnergia Biochar - Brazil
Aperam BioEnergia is a Brazilian player of the forest and renewable energy sector, that runs a ~420.000 ton/year charcoal operation with emissions control in the northeast region of Minas Gerais - Brazil, and holds ~156,000 ha of planted (FSC Certified) and native forest with important biodiversity and economical impact on local communities. Previously, part of the charcoal production that wasn’t being used in Aperam’s industrial process was sold to the market for energy applications, mostly to cement production industries. Now, with the Biochar project, the material is brought back to Aperam BioEnergia forests and applied to the soil, where it not only serves as a durable carbon removal from the atmosphere but also acts as an important natural component for soil characteristics, reconditioning and improvement. This change of baseline is only possible due to the carbon removal revenue.
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Improved cookstove distribution in Rwanda
The use of biomass, in particular firewood, holds huge importance in Rwanda and accounts for at least 86% of energy consumption. Wood fuel is in particularly high demand, especially in rural areas where 98% of households rely on wood as their main cooking fuel. Traditionally, families in rural Rwanda cook using a three-stone open fire. This method is inefficient and leads to unsustainable usage of non-renewable biomass, as well as exposing households to hazardous indoor air pollution, putting pressure on the local environment, and placing a burden on those who collect wood fuel, predominantly women and girls.
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