Walkers Tours celebrates 6 years of carbon neutrality
The country’s most popular destination management company (DMC), Walkers Tours Ltd, recently celebrated their sixth consecutive year of carbon neutrality.
A part of Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate John Keells Holdings (JKH), the company has been successfully maintaining Asia’s only Carbonneutral certified vehicle fleet.
The certificate was handed over by Tom Popple, Senior Manager of Climate Change and Sustainability at Natural Capital Partners in the UK, who commented on the occasion saying: “Walkers Tours continues to excel in climate action and fly the flag for responsible tourism in Sri Lanka. With the growth of tourist numbers across the world, Carbonneutral champions are needed more than ever. Certifying to the Carbonneutral Protocol provides globally recognised assurance of this action and leadership.”
As per previous years, Walkers Tours went through a rigorous audit process, assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of their vehicle fleet operations and negating its carbon footprint through investing in the Ratnapura and Kandy Small Hydropower Project - a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) registered credit-generating project, to obtain the requisite amount of Carbon Credits.
The assessment was conducted by The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC), who has directed Walkers Tours for more than six years in managing and mitigating their emissions to achieve notable reductions, and a verification audit was then performed by The Sustainable Future Group (SFG) - regional partner of Natural Capital Partners - to certify Walkers Tours’ fleet as Carbonneutral.
JKH Destination Management Sector Vice President and CEO Nalaka Amaratunga said: “The global fight against climate change is an integral part of our business operation and we believe that we have a duty to act in the best longterm interests of all our stakeholders. Our firm commitment is to reduce the carbon footprint and we will also continue to focus on our triple bottom line to invest in a better future.”
“Sri Lanka has an important role to play when it comes to tourism and protecting the environment. As a longstanding champion for sustainability, Walkers Tours leads the industry by engaging their stakeholders at every level. Whilst certain other local companies may have claimed carbon neutrality, our research has shown that they have not followed proper, accepted procedures in making those claims, up to and including investing in non-registered, non-verified projects for Carbon Credits through third parties who are only interested in making a quick buck. Having obtained their credits from Natural Capital Partners, whose thorough vetting process only allows validated, registered and verified projects to be listed on their registry, Walkers Tours’ can confidently declare their carbon neutral status at any international forum. We are proud to work with such an inspirational client changing the face of the hospitality and tourism industry in this country, and we look forward to the next six years and beyond with Walkers Tours in helping manage their environmental sustainability,” said CCC CEO Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne.