While all aspects of travel contribute harmful emissions, flights are one of the most visible contributors to global warming. For travel companies wanting to help - and also demonstrate to climate conscious travelers that they’re doing their part to help - incorporating a solution that helps reduce and clean up the emissions from air travel into their climate action plans is desirable.
Flight emissions basics
Carbon dioxide makes up 70% of all air travel emissions, while the other 30% is water vapor. Water vapor forms condensation trails in the atmosphere, trapping heat and acting as artificial clouds, which leads to a warming effect that is potentially greater than the direct impact of carbon dioxide emissions from flight. Did you know that of all the CO2 emissions a plane releases into the atmosphere, most of it will not dissipate until at least 100 years have passed? (Environmental Energy and Study Institute). This, and many other aspects of air travel emissions and efforts to curb it can be found in A Deep Dive on Aviation and Climate for the Climate Conscious Traveler.
Facing the realities of air travel’s impact on climate are at the heart of why Tomorrow’s Air exists: to make it easy for travel companies to contribute to innovative solutions that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in our atmosphere - sustainable aviation fuel- and solutions that can clean up carbon dioxide emissions and store them permanently such as
Brave travel companies are coming forward to help
It was February 2022 when kimkim joined Tomorrow’s Air, becoming the first travel business to incorporate funding support through Tomorrow’s Air for solutions that provide carbon removal with permanent storage in its booking process.
Kimkim’s approach called for sharing the cost of their climate initiative with local travel specialists and customers. As the company notes on its website, “each contribution is small - but cumulatively, they have a large and lasting impact.”
When Tomorrow’s Air introduced sustainable aviation fuel in September 2023, kimkim was again at the front of the line, becoming the first partner to incorporate sustainable aviation fuel investment directly into traveler bookings.
Kimkim says that “independent travel can and should be a force for social impact.” The company’s trips “support economic growth in our destinations, promote cross-cultural exchange and understanding, and embrace sustainable tourism principles.” They favor partnerships with small, local specialists and suppliers, and help them grow their businesses and improve the sustainability of their trips. And, kimkim understands “that the impact on the climate is one of the biggest challenges resulting from travel.”
They’ve been at the forefront of climate action in the travel industry, doing their part not only to address their own emissions, but through their support via Tomorrow’s Air, to help educate and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.
While conventional sellers of carbon offsets focus purely on generating as many offset transactions as possible, Tomorrow’s Air has a deeper mission at its core, striving not only to send much-needed funding to climate solutions, but also to help build awareness and galvanize broader support from the travel industry. Early adopters like kimkim have been key to helping Tomorrow’s Air bring awareness and understanding for these new solutions among the travel industry as well as consumers.
Recently, climate scientist, author, explorer and TED speaker Gabrielle Walker, noted “the importance of an organization like Tomorrow’s Air that’s helping companies collaborate and understand what they need to be doing, this is just so necessary.” Her full comments can be seen in this featured video on the Tomorrow’s Air website.
Looking back at the two years of partnership with Tomorrow’s Air, kimkim climate lead Kaelyn Harris-Vincent commented, "At kimkim, we see it as our responsibility to support sustainable travel practices and protect the planet we’re privileged to help our travelers explore. Our partnership with Tomorrow’s Air has enabled us to take meaningful action through innovative solutions like sustainable aviation fuel and carbon removal technologies."
Kimkim's foundational support was instrumental in shaping the pathways and processes of Tomorrow's Air. In 2025, they will maintain their commitment to climate funding and expand their sustainable travel initiatives through membership with 1% for the Planet.
Learn more about how you or your business can join the cause: Tomorrow's Air for Individuals and Tomorrow's Air for Businesses.