B Corp Impact Report 2023.

Impact Report 2023

Contents.

01 Leadership letter 02 Journey to certification 03 B Corp verified score and goals for recertification 04 Striving to leave a positive impact 05 Impact Area plans and progress Governance Workers Community Environment Customers 06 Philanthropy and core goals 07 Looking ahead to 2024 08 Conclusion

01 | Leadership Letter.

2022 -2023 has been a good year for Steppes Travel.

It has been a strong financial year for us with travel bouncing back with the lifting of Covid travel restrictions around the world. As a result we designed itineraries for some 1,500 clients to 90 countries.

For us – and in accordance with B Corp principles - a successful business is not just about the bottom line but about being cognisant of the impact of our decisions on our team, on our suppliers and the local communities within which we work. Importantly, we’ve been working hard to ensure that all of our clients’ travels leave a positive impact. As detailed in this report, we’ve improved our carbon measurement and have carbon balanced all the flight emissions of our clients and also our own travels and office. We have work to do with measuring the emissions of our clients whilst in situ and also trying to measure the positive impact that they have to local communities.

Flight emissions account for over 75% of our clients’ emissions and we need to work with airlines and governments to provide greater clarity on what the aviation industry is doing to reduce its emissions.

There is much work to do but we believe that with the help of you, our clients, we can continue to ensure that travel has a positive impact and is a force for good.

02 | Journey to certification.

Steppes Travel is proud to be a B Corp member and part of the B Corp community (we have been and remain impressed by the number of B Corp companies that have reached out to us and the sense of collaboration to try to engender change for better and the sense of a greater good). We went through this process in order to validate our commitment to sustainability through people, planet and profit, using a respected third party.

We became B Corp certified in August 2022 after a thorough examination of our goals, processes and efforts to ensure that the company is being as sustainable as possible and making a positive impact. It was very much a two way process in which we received and listened to advice as to how we could improve our internal processes and in turn our score – to become B Corp certified you need to score 80+ and commit to positively impact all stakeholders through governance, workers, community, environment and customers.

Going forward we are held accountable through being required to submit an annual impact statement (such as this) and every three years being requited to recertify. Recertification is certainly not something that we take for granted and we will continue to work hard to take advice, to learn from others and to make improvements wherever we can. It is not a journey that we will be undertaking alone – that is the joy of B Corp, namely that it is about community and collaboration.

03 | B Corp verified score and goals for recertification.

The median score for ordinary businesses who complete the assessment is currently 50.9.

Our B Impact Assessment score was 89.8.

An impressive score when compared against other tour operators in the travel industry – a reflection of our longstanding commitment to ESG – but it’s not something that we take for granted. We still have plenty of work to do to ensure our business continues to have a positive social and environmental impact.

Office energy consumption, water usage and waste

2.38

Working from home

4.4

Business travel

21.32

Staff commuting

16.96

Website

1.4

04 | How we strive to leave a positive impact.

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) This year we took further steps towards aligning our vision for Positive Impact Travel with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As a consistent and universal road map for change, these goals provide a framework within which all business can work to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the world. Our goal is for our web pages to display how each Holiday Idea supports at least three of the UN SDGs. Take a look at our South Australia and Kangaroo Island Holiday Idea as an example and see our website page dedicated to showcasing how your holiday can have a positive impact.

Paying a fair price for nature In 2022 we introduced an initiative to raise awareness about the need for tourism to pay a fair price for the natural resources on which the industry depends. The meagre Galapagos National Park fee of $100 epitomises how nature can often be undervalued. To address this issue, for every client travelling with Steppes Travel to Galapagos, we donate $100 to the Galapagos Conservation Trust to fund essential conservation work, and we encourage our clients travelling to the Galapagos to do the same. The Latin American Travel Association has adopted this initiative and is urging other tour operators to do the same as Steppes Travel. Read more about our Paying a Fair Price for Nature campaign on our blog.

Measuring our impact on the ground In 2021, we identified a need to come up with a system of scoring the sustainability of hotels, weighing up a property’s carbon footprint against the positive impact it has on local community and environment. We are still some way off achieving this at scale, but we continue to collaborate with organisations such as The Long Run and Weeva towards achieving this objective. We have been trialling various carbon calculators this year, to come up with baseline figures for carbon emissions generated by typical itineraries in our key destinations. We have started a process of consolidation of hotels and cruises in our key destinations based on an analysis of their carbon footprint alongside their environmental, economic and social impact.

05 | Impact area plans and progress.

Governance Governance evaluates what a company can do to enhance its policies and practices pertaining to its mission, ethics, accountability and transparency. Our current score: 21.5

What we said we’d do: 1 : To make public our Social and environmental performance via an Impact Report.

2 : Use a third party to validate our internal footprint.

3 : To include an impact assessment in our annual accounts.

Plans for the next 12 months: 1 : To conduct an ethics focused risk assessment.

2 : For the board to discuss and review our social and environmental performance.

3 : To include evaluation of our social and environmental goals on in an annual review of our management team.

What we did: 1 : We shared our social and environmental impact through a report on our website https://www.steppestravel.com/ positive-impact-travel/positiveimpact-travel-report-2022/ 2 : We worked with https://www.ecollectivecarb on.com/ 3 : This has been included in our financial accounts posted on Companies House.

Workers Workers evaluates our company’s contributions to our employees’ financial security, health & safety, wellness, career development, and engagement and satisfaction. Our current score: 30.1

What we did: 1 : Issued in April 2023.

What we said we’d do: 1 : An issue of shares to all employees as of April 2023 dependent on the company hitting various targets.

2 : Offer low-interest loans to the team should they need them.

3 : Encourage and invest in the team to take educational and career development opportunities.

Plans for the next 12 months: Improve and invest in our training schedule for the team.

2 : This has been offered and taken up by a few.

3 : A few of the team have taken this up. We need to try and encourage more to do so.

Feedback from the team ‘I feel invested in – in many ways; from the training, the travelling, the team and personally.’

‘The personal and mindful approach to the company, which transpires across all areas… the focus on people as individuals (staff, clients, suppliers, communities we visit) and the flexible and positive attitudes this creates.’

‘The team atmosphere and camaraderie across all of Steppes.’

‘The flexibility and that we can discuss ideas openly with anyone.’

‘I have freedom to work without being judged and the people are nice.’

Community Community evaluates our engagement with and impact on the communities in which we operates. Topics include diversity, equity & inclusion, economic impact, civic engagement, charitable giving, and supply chain management. Our current score: 19.4

What we said we’d do: 1 : To produce and publish a list of preferred local suppliers and vendors for specific facilities.

2 : Increase our clients’ engagement with Steppes Fund for Change (our charitable giving outlet).

Plans for the next 12 months: 1 : To include training for the team on topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

2 : Aim to have at least 50% of the sales team complete the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Sustainable Tourism course.

3 : To track diversity of ownership amongst our suppliers.

4 : To investigate and hopefully set up a Steppes Travel charitable foundation.

What we did: 1 : This has been published internally.

2 : This has proven very difficult to track (other than asking for client comment in our Post Travel Questionnaire). It is important, so something that we will work to try to improve.

Environment Environment evaluates our overall environmental management practices as well as our impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity. This includes the direct impact of our operations and also supply chain and distribution channels. Our current score: 11.3

What we said we’d do: 1 : To offset our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

2 : To offset our clients flights based on economy travel.

What we did: 1 : These were offset with https://www.worldlandtrust.org/ 2 : These were offset with

Plans for the next 12 months: 1 : To work with our landlord to implement water and energy efficiency improvements.

2 : To implement a better environmental management system (EMS) covering waste generation, energy usage, water usage, and carbon emissions.

3 : To set targets for the reduction of energy, water use and management of waste in our office.

https://www.worldlandtrust.org/

With the help of https://www.ecollectivecarbon.com/ we have measured the footprint of our headquarters in Cirencester for the calendar year of 2022, as 46.45 tCO². This figure is broken down as follows:

Breakdown per tCO² : Office energy consumption, water usage and waste

2.38

Working from home

4.4

Business travel

21.32

Staff commuting

16.96

Website

1.4

With ecollective’s help we have attempted to calculate carbon emissions associated with our team working from home for approximately 40% of the week and emissions associated with our team’s commute for the days they work from our office. Business travel has significantly increased due to the lifting of Covid restrictions.

An offset payment of £726.50 has been made to World Land Trust to offset the operational carbon footprint of our office, covering the calendar year 2022.

Offsetting clients’ flights We have offset the CO² generated by our clients’ flights in the period September 1st 2022 – August 30th 2023 (our financial year), at a cost of £63,090 paid to World Land Trust.

We continue to work with World Land Trust with whom our offsets are allocated to a portfolio of self-certified REDD+ projects (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) in countries such as Vietnam, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico.

While afforestation has an important role to play in providing nature-based carbon extraction, the protection and restoration of existing forests is paramount. According to World Land Trust, between 10-20% of global GHG emissions are caused by the destruction of existing forest.

Our policy on offsetting remains as follows: We offset our clients’ international and domestic flights, even if the flights are not booked by Steppes Travel We offset these flights based on travel in economy class We encourage our clients to make up the difference in offset, should they choose to travel in a higher cabin class We offset our own staff travel flights We offset our office carbon footprint

Customers Customers evaluates our stewardship of our customers through the quality of our products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels. Our current score: 4.7

What we said we’d do: Redesign our post-travel questionnaire (PTQ) to improve client engagement, i.e. get more client feedback.

Plans for the next 12 months: To share customer satisfaction publicly (via Trustpilot).

What we did: The PTQ was redesigned. As yet too early to tell if there has been an improvement in completion rates.

06 | Philanthropy and core goals.

The table below summarises the level of support we have provided in the financial year of 2022 - 2023, to charities and initiatives in alignment with our core goals in relation to carbon sequestration, conservation and community.

Total donations for 2022-2023: Carbon offset for flights £64,163 Steppes Fund for Change £74,268

Who we’ve supported in the last 12 months under the auspices of Steppes Fund for Change: Brigg Afforestation Project £12,000

The Long Table £18,808 Seawilding £18,305 Steppes Fund for Female Guides £14,320 Galapagos Conservation Trust £3,835 Morocco Education For All Earthquake Appeal £5,000

Spotlight on biodiversity - Brigg tree planting project.

Earlier this year, our Product and Sustainability Director, Jarrod Kyte revisited our tree planting project in Brigg, north Lincolnshire, four years after the first saplings were put in the ground. Read his update in his blog on Steppes’ website.

Toilet Twinning £1,000

African Parks £1,000

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07 | Looking ahead to 2024.

Carbon, Conservation and Community In 2021, we set ourselves the goal of halving our carbon footprint by 2025. With accurate measurement of our supply chain (Scope 3) emissions proving to be elusive, we are still a long way off achieving this goal. As per our commitment under the Glasgow Declaration, a more realistic target is 2030 for achieving this objective, and so in 2024 we will attempt to establish a baseline figure for carbon emissions generated in the supply chain (hotels, transport, excursions etc.) of our most popular destinations.

While a reduction in the carbon emissions associated with our business is essential, we will continue to use the UN SDG framework to provide holidays that support conservation and community initiatives. We’re in the process of creating a shortlist of positive impact properties – hotels and lodges in our most popular destinations, that we believe create positive environmental, economic and social impact on the ground.

We will continue to give financial support to charities and initiatives that are in alignment with our core goals which we have simplified as carbon, conservation and community. The initiatives we supported in 2023 are below:

1 : Brigg project – an innovative land-concession model that has set aside land just outside Scunthorpe, for tree planting.

2 : The Long Table – giving people in our community access to food and people to eat it with.

3 : Seawilding – community-led marine habitat restoration on the Craignish peninsula.

4 : Steppes Fund for Female Guides – we launched this new initiative in 2023 to provide women around the world, access to education and training that will give them the knowledge and skills required to pursue a fulfilling and prosperous career as a guide.

Progress against 2023 goals and goals for 2024 1 : The financial support we give to carbon, conservation and community-based initiatives will be at least 1% of our total revenue.

In our last two financial years we have achieved this goal and have recently applied to join ‘1% For the Planet’ to ensure we continue to meet with this metric.

2 : At least 20 of our most popular destinations will have a carbon emissions baseline figure that reflects all components of the holiday (flights, accommodation, transport, excursions etc.) Due to the tailor-made nature of our business (every holiday we sell is different), and the lack of accurate carbon data available for many of the hotels we book, we’re questioning whether this goal is achievable in a format that will provide us with practicable information. Therefore this goal has been amended as follows: Use the Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index 2023 to measure the average carbon footprint of holidays taken in 2023 to 10 of our most popular destinations, using accommodation and flights as the two key components.

We will be creating a collection of small group tours and charters in 2023 for which we will publish an accurate carbon footprint that covers all components of the holiday.

3 : We will measure the number of bookings where our clients have offset the difference between economy and higher-cabin seats on their flights and look for means of incentivising this action.

In October 2023, we successfully integrated a calculator into our database to allow us to measure the carbon emissions of our client's flights. This tool allows us to itemise the difference between an economy offset and a premium class offset. We are using the tool to display this information on client’s invoices and other collateral, prompting them to pay the difference between the economy offset and the premium class offset (on the basis that Steppes Travel already covers the cost of the economy class offset). The tool will also give us the capacity to measure whether our clients pay the upgrade offset should they choose to fly premium class.

4 : 50% of the hotels/lodges we book in 2024 in our top selling destinations will be from our short-list of positive impact properties. By the end of 2023 we should have a working list of positive impact properties for 14 of our top selling destinations, against which we can track bookings in 2024. In addition we will continue to compile lists of positive impact properties for the remaining six countries in our list of top 20 selling destinations.

5 : 50% of the Holiday Ideas on our website will articulate how the holiday contributes to at least three UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Currently only 16% of our Holiday Ideas refer to at least three UNSDGs. Lack of progress is mainly down to a lack of resources but we will continue to work towards this goal.

08 | Conclusion.

We don’t have all the answers. Far from it, and we know that carbon measurement and offsetting is far from being a perfect solution. But we shouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good, and so we hope you’ll join with us on a journey to refine the way we travel to ensure it is a privilege that can be cherished and enjoyed by you, your children and grandchildren for many years to come.