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Rent Responsibly’s Climate Action Plan

The travel sector and countless destinations across the globe are vulnerable to climate change.  At Rent Responsibly, we love the good that travel brings to the world. However, travel and tourism are also major contributors to climate change, generating between 8% and 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). That’s why it’s our mission to empower short-term rental communities to collaborate and further responsible renting for the benefit of people, places, and planet. That starts with us.

In 2023, Rent Responsibly signed the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism, joining the tourism industry’s global commitment to halve emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050. 

As a part of our Glasgow Declaration commitment, we have created a climate action plan aligned with the five pathways of the declaration (Measure, Decarbonize, Regenerate, Collaborate, and Finance) and will annually report on our progress. This commitment also entails sharing best practices and resources to help other tourism professionals join in the effort to reach these ambitious goals.

Our Climate Action Plan

Pathway 1: Measure and disclose all travel and tourism-related emissions.

While Rent Responsibly does not directly provide travel- and tourism-related services, we support those who do. In doing so, we use energy and emit GHGs in four key areas:

• Staff travel to industry and team events
• Hosting in-person events and team retreats
• Using software and technology
• Staff use of home offices

Starting July 2024, we will measure our carbon footprint, focusing on the major energy uses above, and share the results of our efforts annually.

Pathway 2: Decarbonize / Reduce

Rent Responsibly will work to reduce our emissions across all of our activities with the greatest emphasis on the four areas identified in the prior section. In addition to new opportunities and strategies as they arise, we will:

For staff travel:

• Limit staff travel to only critical personnel needed at each event
• Choose more sustainable transportation options to and from the destination and in-destination when available
• Choose whether to attend events based on sustainable transportation and accommodation options in the destination, as well as the footprint or footprint reduction efforts of the event itself

For events we host:

• Choose destinations with carbon-minimizing transportation and accommodation options and encourage or incentivize attendees to use them
• Choose venues that use renewable energy sources and enable waste reduction
• Minimize or eliminate waste sent to landfills, particularly single-use plastics and food waste

For our IT infrastructure:

• Switch any of our primary software that do not currently use renewable energy sources and/or offset their GHGs to providers that do, where possible. For software without an equivalent green alternative, we will encourage them to switch to renewable energy sources.
• Choose new software that uses renewable energy sources and/or offsets its GHGs 
• Properly recycle retired hardware and other e-waste
• Source new hardware that minimizes energy consumption and waste

For our staff’s use of their home offices:

• Provide resources to switch to renewable energy sources where available
• Implement internal challenges and programs to incentivize or gamify sustainable decisions and waste reduction
• Share best practices, sustainability hacks, and sustainability “wins” with colleagues through dedicated communication channels

Pathway 3: Regenerate

Rent Responsibly aims to offset all remaining GHG emissions with regenerative initiatives that help recapture carbon with a primary focus on reforestation. In the spring of 2024, Rent Responsibly joined One Tree Planted, a non-profit organization focused on global reforestation. Through One Tree Planted, Rent Responsibly will:

• Contribute to reforestation in vulnerable tourism destinations and other critical areas
• Contribute to reforestation efforts chosen by our staff, such as those in their home states
• Contribute to reforestation efforts chosen by our clients
• Encourage our peers to participate in reforestation through awareness campaigns and matching incentives

Pathway 4: Collaborate

Through all that we do, collaboration and education are paramount. We will expand our efforts to provide resources and inspiration for short-term rental operators, vendors, and organizations to adopt more sustainable practices, particularly in reducing carbon footprints, through:

• Guides, case studies, and other evergreen content distributed for free through RentResponsibly.org, the Rent Responsibly Network, and other platforms
• Virtual educational events and recordings
• Demonstration of carbon-neutral activities and actionable takeaways
• Collaborate with sustainability-focused organizations within the STR industry to extend their reach

Pathway 5: Finance

We believe that our ecological sustainability and our financial sustainability are inextricably intertwined. To ensure all of our emission reduction activities are sustainably funded, we will:

• Create and implement a budget line item dedicated to emission reduction that scales with our company’s growth
• Adopt an internal carbon price for operations and strategic planning decisions 

This plan represents our initial steps towards achieving our climate goals. We look forward to reporting on our progress and evolving our strategies to effectively meet the challenges of climate change. Rent Responsibly is committed to achieving measurable progress in our climate action journey. By implementing this climate action plan, we will work to reduce our carbon footprint and inspire positive change within our industry. Through collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement, we will contribute to a more sustainable future.