Blink:

Google Ad: Helping millions of travellers make their stays more sustainable. We’re highlighting hotels that have committed to environmentally sustainable practices. So, making a more sustainable choice is now an easier choice. The incongruity of this ad; what is the offsetting carbon footprint associated with guests’ travel to their lodging.

Read On:

Smarter consumer behavior:

• In the last five years Google has realized nearly five times the volume of searches for sustainable goods.
• The Edelman Trust Barometer’s annual trust and credibility survey revealed 70 percent of people globally are concerned or fearful about the consequences of the climate crisis.
• A new survey conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication had similar results to Edelman – 70 percent of Americans are now “very” or “somewhat” worried about climate change.

Scientists have warned us climate change long-term is more dangerous and permanent than the coronavirus? The numbers above are encouraging, people are seeking more sustainable goods and services. So why has it been so hard for planet earth to adopt a sense of urgency about the climate crisis? Tomorrow the COP26 (United Nations Climate Change Conference) begins in Glasgow to explore how we need to work together to find solutions and review the alliances needed to be implemented between global policymakers, corporations and activists to change course. Hopefully, the conference will also recognize the world’s biodiversity is collapsing and is in tandem with climate change, thus we need change human behavior. How do we change human behavior? For starters people need to start walking the talk. It is great we can Google and find an eco-certified hotel, but maybe we all need to start re-evaluating our travel: wants (e.g., leisure) versus needs (e.g., work) and the associated transportation methods as well as our day-to-day transportation. Bigger picture, hopefully the United Nations Climate Change Conference will initiate all the societal changes, policies and alliances needed to create the context needed to advert an overwhelming global climate catastrophe in the future.