Introducing: Sea to Sky Air’s Climate Action Plan

Our mission has always been for locals and visitors to leave us feeling connected, renewed, hopeful, inspired, and amazed. To make the transformative power of raw wilderness and the Squamish backcountry accessible to all. We also understand that to do this, we are reliant on fossil-fueled aircraft. The irony is not lost on us. While we had been working towards and became carbon-neutral in 2021, we knew we had more to do. We’ve been working on a robust Climate Action Plan over the past year, and we’re excited to finally share it with you, our community.

Why We’re Doing This

We believe that for humans to want to protect any piece of pristine wilderness they must first know the exhilaration and deep connection that comes from spending time here. As we mentioned, we understand that our goal to foster a deeper connection with nature is currently reliant on fossil fuels. We have spent a great deal of time questioning whether we have the right impact, and we believe we do. We also know we have a responsibility to the environment we deeply care about, and knew we had to take measures to do everything we can to help protect it. Our Climate Action Plan serves as a roadmap toward a low-carbon future, as well as outlines what we are and can do in the here and now.

What We’re Doing Now

We’ve been operating as carbon neutral since 2021. However, we know that in order to deliver on our company mission, we need to transform our operations to deliver a more robust and effective climate action plan, immediately. Our current plan guides us toward seeking specific, measurable, innovative changes right now. We have been accounting for direct and indirect emissions from our operations & aircraft, and have primarily been focused on reducing and offsetting emissions. Offsetting is not our primary strategy – but as an air service, it’s a critical one to help us through this period where we have no commercially viable aircraft alternatives with reduced emissions. Our strategies have been and are currently:

Reduction Strategies:

• Energy efficiency initiatives in the office (summer and winter)
• Utilization of aircraft to contribute to reductions in emissions per passenger.
• Fuel use reduction focused on fuel sampling waste.

Offset Strategies:

• We will offset carbon emissions that cannot be reduced, using the offset Provider: Less (see less.ca for Certification Standards, Registry, and specific offsetting portfolios).

The Climate Action Plan we have created guides our day-to-day operations, but also plans for the future of Sea to Sky Air.

The Future

Looking towards the future inspires us with the possible technology available, such as commercially viable aircraft and other technologies that could aid us in our reduction goals. However, we don’t want to hang our hats and wait for technology, we need to do what we can, now. We have committed to halving emissions by 2030 and reaching Net Zero as soon as possible. Our current and futures goals are the following:

• Short Term: 5% reduction in per-passenger tCO2e produced
• Mid-term Target: 50% reduction in per-passenger emissions by 2030
• Long-Term Target: 90% reduction in per-passenger emissions by 2050.

Another component of our Climate Action Plan is transparency and accountability. For this, we will be sharing our annual reports on Our Mission page on the website. Currently, you can read the 2021 Annual Report, and look forward to reading our 2022 annual report when it becomes available.

We intend to leave a legacy that lasts beyond our lifetime.