“Protect Our Winters Europe is launching a new mobility campaign across the continent for the entire month of March! Officially titled “POW Mobility Month 2023”, the campaign challenges the outdoor community to reduce their travel emissions by choosing more sustainable forms of transportation. What’s neat is that this challenge doesn’t only extend to people’s upcoming spring vacations; whether you are travelling to work, to your favourite outdoor location, or across international borders, all travel counts as we come together in the battle against climate change.” (POW Europe)
Transport, a challenge in terms of carbon emissions for the outdoor sector
Transport currently represents one of the most important challenges in terms of CO2 emissions. In particular, since the 1990s, the increase in GHC emissions has increased by 7%. Today it still represents the biggest impact in terms of emissions, particularly affecting the tourism sector in which outdoor sports take place, where transport accounts for 75% of the sector’s total emissions. This includes not only individual travel but also emissions from the industry and the operations of the actors involved in the sector. Choosing sustainable means of transport as a priority to reduce carbon emissions is definitely one of the best tools the outdoor sector has to fight climate change, as reflected in last year’s ENOS article about transforming mobility.
ENOS members take action
At the beginning of March, the ENOS member organisation POW (Protect Our Winters Europe), recognising the importance of the climate challenge, launched a campaign called Mobility Month 2023, dedicated to promote sustainable travel in our outdoor activities but also in our daily lives.
“POW wants to promote behavioural and systemic changes towards our invaluable public transport systems and our active transport journeys. To support this value, the main goal for POW Mobility Month 2023 is to use sustainable transportation to reduce the outdoor industry’s carbon footprint. It doesn’t matter if you’re heading out on a ski trip, a biking adventure or doing your daily work commute. By joining the campaign and reframing your journey, you are improving air quality, minimising wildlife disturbance, reducing traffic congestion, and supporting local economies”
POW Europe
A set of principles that can help us to reduce our impact
Whether you are an individual, an organisation or a brand, there is a wide range of actions and initiatives that you can develop and promote to reduce your current level of emissions. POW proposes a series of principles to integrate into the routine without losing the “fun” side of our usual activities:
- re:frame your journey to become part of the adventure
- re:discover new adventures in your backyard
- re:route to mountain area served by public transport
- re:invent your journey to work, become a bike commuter
- re:imagine your car journey spent drinking coffee on a train
“The tone of POW comms around travel has always been fun, reframing the journey to make travel part of the adventure, encouraging slow travel, longer stays and making memories along the way”.
POW Europe
More information about this campaign
If you want to take part in the POW Mobility Month 2023, you still have time. Find out all about the campaign, the possibilities to participate, and the available prizes by visiting the official POW website or the document below with all the information. In addition, a number of tips concerning sustainable transport and the facts behind the initiative are accessible online. The most important is being able to extend this campaign to the rest of the year individually or as an organisation to make sustainable mobility a basic principle in our daily life.