S US TA I N A BL E T R AV E L L E R
NEOM INVESTS US$175 MILLION INTO VOLOCOPTER
Radisson Hotel Group signs Glasgow Declaration at COP27
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adisson Hotel Group signed the Glasgow Declaration at the recently concluded COP27 assembly in Egypt. The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism aims to secure commitments to halve emissions over the next decade and reach net zero emissions either by 2050, or earlier if possible. Radisson, therefore, aims to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse emissions by 46 per cent by 2030, compared to 2019 as a base year. It also commits to reducing absolute Scope 3 greenhouse emissions from fuel and energy-related activities and franchises by 28 per cent over the same timeframe. Over the past 10 years, Radisson says that it has achieved energy efficiency savings of 30 per cent. Additionally, the group has offset over 45,000 tonnes of carbon for clients with its 100 per cent Carbon Neutral meetings.
Neom, the upcoming giga project in Saudi Arabia, has announced a US$175 million Series E investment in urban air mobility provider Volocopter. Neom “will take a significant equity stake in the company as part of its strategic engagement with the global (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) eVTOL industry,” according to a report by Saudi Press Agency. In collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Neom and Volocopter are implementing a national test bed in Saudi to enable the integration of eVTOLs with zeroemission future urban mobility. Neom aims to implement a mobility system powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. In December last year, Neom and Volocopter agreed to a joint venture whereby Volocopter will operate electric air taxi services in Neom to connect various regions including The Line, Oxagon and Trojena.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH Our planet is still in the emergency room. The red line we must not cross is the line that takes our planet over the 1.5-degree temperature limit. A fund for loss and damage is essential – but it’s not an answer if the climate crisis washes a small island state off the map – or turns an entire African country to desert Remarks by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the end of the Cop27 conference in Egypt
Etihad partnered with World Energy to operate Net Zero Flight from Washington DC to Abu Dhabi by offsetting 100 per cent emissions through a Book & Claim system:
27,000
5.04 tonnes
98.2%
216 tonnes
The number of gallons of SAF that Etihad purchased from World Energy
Flight load – carbon intensity
DECEMBER 2022
The additional carbon dioxide reduction from flight operation efficiencies
The amount of carbon dioxide burned on the EY130 flight
E T I H A D B E C O M E S T H E F I R S T A I R L I N E TO PA R T I C I PAT E IN WORLD ENERGY NET-ZERO PROGRAMME Last month, Etihad signed an MoU with carbon-net-zero solutions provider World Energy. The agreement aims to decarbonise flights through in-sector emissions reductions. World Energy will deliver sustainable aviation fuel to Los Angeles airport (LAX), which will displace conventional fossil fuel required by aircraft flying out of the airport. Etihad will receive the emission reductions in the form of SAF certificates (SAFc) once World Energy blends the SAF and it achieves “drop-in” ASTM certification. Etihad will also be able to include its customers on those certificates, which will in turn allow them to mitigate the emissions related to their business flights.
