Google Introduces Tools To Facilitate People To Make Sustainable Travel Choices

Google has reportedly updated its Maps and travel search platforms, providing carbon emissions information to Google Flights. This move is intended to enable people to see the amount of CO2 emissions associated with each flight so that users can make a conscious choice and opt for more eco-friendly flight options.

Google’s Hotel Search will also clearly display available information on the sustainability efforts by hotel operators in areas like waste management, water conservation, etc.

Google has also started rolling out an eco-friendly routing option on Maps. It has redesigned its results page for searches related to climate change, displaying more indepth information about the sensitive topic.

The new features announced today come after Google became the latest corporate backer of Travalyst, the sustainable travel initiative launched by Prince Harry.

Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google parent Alphabet, said the firm wants to play a major role in helping one billion people make more sustainable and responsible choices.

“Our goal is to make the sustainable choice the easier choice,” he said. “Individually they might be small, but multiply them together across our projects and that equals big transformations for the planet. There’s no time to waste, so let’s get started.”

Stephanie Horton, Google’s global consumer marketing director, said more people have started searching for eco-friendly hotels after the onset of Covid pandemic.

“Promoting more sustainable travel is not something we can do alone, that’s why we joined Travalyst to bring standardisation across the industry. That will make sure that wherever you are booking your travel you have reliable information and help you make a sustainable decision.”