Companies Are Closing Their Doors Today For The Global Climate Strike

A Global Climate Strike is taking place today, Friday, September 20. And Intrepid Travel is urging other travel companies to join in the cause. 

As a leader in responsible travel, Intrepid announced plans to become “climate positive” by 2020 earlier this year. Now it's encouraging agent partners and the wider travel community to take part in the global mass day of action, three days before the United Nations climate summit in New York.

As stated in a press release, the company is closing its global headquarters in Melbourne, Australia for the day, and urging its global staff to leave work in their respective cities, to allow employees to participate.

Here in the states, Intrepid Travel’s New York office will also close for the day to join in the rally in Manhattan’s Financial District, led by youth activist Greta Thunberg. 

Furthermore, strikes are planned in 120 countries across the world and organizers expect hundreds of thousands of people to protest government inaction on climate change.

"We are at a pivotal moment in time," James Thornton, Intrepid’s CEO, said in an open letter. “Taking definitive action to fight the climate crisis is critical. Children around the world have been leading the way through the Climate Strike movement, and now is the time for adults – and business leaders – to stand up and support the call for immediate action.

At Intrepid, we believe that we have a particular responsibility to take climate action – because flying is a big contributor to emissions, and we want to ensure we are doing everything we can to mitigate our impact. We have been climate neutral since 2010, and in 2020 we will become a Climate Positive business.

We firmly believe that there are positive solutions available – but change is happening too slowly. We need individuals, businesses and governments to work together to make change happen. This is especially true now, when short-term decision making is putting future generations at risk.”

Intrepd has also joined B-Corp business collective, a group of global companies pledging to support worker participation in the strike.

“Every business can do something, whether it’s closing the doors, having a meeting-free day, allowing a long lunch, or sending an email to make it clear teams will not be penalized for taking a few hours off,” the companies said in a join statement.