Airbnb Becoming a net zero company by 2030

Key Takeaways

• We are committing to a goal to operate as a Net Zero company by 2030
• To achieve this goal, we are committing to a number of steps, including reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions associated with our global corporate operations, and investing in quality nature-based solutions to offset residual emissions

Home sharing through Airbnb supports sustainable travel: Airbnb Hosts use existing infrastructure — their homes — to welcome guests. Sustainability is also important to guests. More than 80 percent of US consumers believe Airbnb helps people travel in a more environmentally sustainable way¹.

Today, we are committing to a goal to operate as a Net Zero company by 2030, reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions associated with our global corporate operations² and investing in quality nature-based solutions to offset residual emissions. This commitment is the latest step we are taking to help address the climate crisis. In 2020 we made a commitment to achieve 100-percent renewable electricity use for our corporate operations, and earlier this year, we became a founding participant in the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition, a new public-private initiative that has mobilized $1 billion to fight tropical deforestation.

“Addressing climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our generation,” said Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky. “Committing to Net Zero is the latest action we’re taking to lower carbon emissions and we will continue to work with our community to promote sustainable travel.”

To achieve the goal of becoming a Net Zero company by 2030, we are committing to a number of steps, including:

• Rapid decarbonization: We will develop reduction targets for all scopes of emissions, in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement.³ Our targets will include the following:
  • Operations: Power our corporate operations with renewable energy and undertake waste and water reduction measures.
  • Vendors: Partner with our corporate vendors to help them reduce their carbon footprints.
  • Employees: Help our employees reduce the footprint associated with their commute (e.g., encouraging the use of public transportation), and help support adoption of renewable energy for their homes through partnerships offering community solar and green utility programs. We launched a renewable energy program for our employees based in the US this year and are exploring expanding this offering.
• Measurement and transparency: Annually, we will measure and publish our carbon and greenhouse gas footprint for our corporate operations, as well as report on progress towards our targets.
• Reinvestment in nature: We will invest in high-quality nature-based offsets that protect the natural world and the communities that rely on it, including as part of our participation in the LEAF Coalition.

We are committed to doing more, and are regularly consulting with our global community of Hosts and guests, as well as environmental experts and community leaders from around the world. This includes working closely with our Host Advisory Board on how to embed sustainable practices in hosting and make them more widely available. We are piloting ways to enable our Hosts to switch to renewables, and we actively work with Hosts to educate them on actions they can take to become more sustainable. We are also working on quantifying the emissions from stays and Experiences to give us the data to guide the actions of our community. In partnership with our global community we are also developing additional strategies to further reduce the carbon footprint of stays and Experiences on our platform, and we look forward to sharing more details about these plans as they evolve.

This critical work is being developed with input from sustainability leaders, including Elizabeth Sturcken, managing director of the net zero program at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), who is advising Airbnb on sustainability targets and strategy, as well as with other climate and sustainability experts.

“It’s encouraging to see an aggressive and science-based climate goal that aims for Net Zero in less than 10 years from an influential and global brand like Airbnb,” said Sturcken. “Although much hard work remains, the company’s size and scale offer transformational potential for reducing emissions at the speed and scale that the science demands.”

¹ Survey conducted for Airbnb by ClearPath Strategies, September 15-19, 2020, of 1,010 US adults, with a margin
of error of +/-3.1%. ² Including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions associated with our corporate operations (e.g., emissions associated with vendors, employee travel, and data center usage). ³ We plan to join the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and set reduction targets in accordance with the 1.5°C emissions scenario of the Paris Climate Agreement.

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