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, Airbnb is committing to a goal to operate as a Net Zero company by 2030, reducing carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions associated with the global corporate operations2 and investing in quality nature-based solutions to offset residual emissions. This commitment is the latest step Airbnb is taking to help address the climate crisis. In 2020 Airbnb made a commitment to achieve 100-percent renewable electricity use for their corporate operations, and earlier this year, the company 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, Airbnb is committing to a number of steps, including:

• Rapid decarbonization: Airbnb will develop reduction targets for all scopes of emissions, in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement.3 The company's targets will include the following:
  • Operations: Power Airbnb's corporate operations with renewable energy and undertake waste and water reduction measures
  • Vendors: Partner with Airbnb's corporate vendors to help them reduce their carbon footprints
  • Employees: Help their 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. Airbnb launched a renewable energy program for their employees based in the US this year and are exploring expanding this offering
• Measurement and transparency: Annually, Airbnb will measure and publish their carbon and greenhouse gas footprint for their corporate operations, as well as report on progress towards Airbnb's targets
• Reinvestment in nature: Airbnb will invest in high-quality nature-based offsets that protect the natural world and the communities that rely on it, including as part of the participation in the LEAF Coalition

Airbnb is committed to doing more, and are regularly consulting with their global community of Hosts and guests, as well as environmental experts and community leaders from around the world. This includes working closely with Airbnb's Host Advisory Board on how to embed sustainable practices in hosting and make them more widely available. Airbnb is piloting ways to enable their Hosts to switch to renewables, and Airbnb actively works with Hosts to educate them on actions they can take to become more sustainable. Airbnb is also working on quantifying the emissions from stays and Experiences to give them the data to guide the actions of their community. In partnership with the global community Airbnb is also developing additional strategies to further reduce the carbon footprint of stays and Experiences on the platform, and Airbnb looks 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.”