The climate crisis is the world’s most pressing problem. Its transformative, political, social and cultural effects promise to go far beyond the physical ravages of a changing climate. As people who love adventure and, presumably, the outdoors, how can and should we respond? 

Some responses are forced rather than voluntary, like closing business operations as conditions change. This is something Alan Stewart, head of the famed Cairngorm Sleddog Centre, recalls stoically this month. 

But what else can we do?

Without pretending to have the answers, our fourth Edition gathers perspectives and ideas linking adventure with climate action.

The most immediate, and surely the minimum response should be to travel sustainably. Abby Walters outlines a number of first steps we can all take. 

Not flying is a particularly impactful, albeit daunting, choice - one that Anna Hughes unpacks in her discussion of Fight Free UK, the campaign organisation she directs. An introduction to carbon offsetting by Jack Curtis and Jacques Sheehan, co-founders of environmental startup Carbon Jacked, gives us further context. 

The allure of flight-free adventure can serve as a carrot in this fight, to mix a metaphor. Emma Gregg, journalist and author of the upcoming The Flightless Traveller, makes the argument for flight-free adventure through some of her own journeys - an argument taken further in environmentalist and adventurer Joshua Kian’s ode to human-powered travel.

Photo: Annie Spratt

Adventure can also raise awareness and, ideally, change behaviours. This is especially important for young people, which is why we invited Max Girardeau, Director of The Visionaries, to outline the thinking behind their radical, nature-based self-development programmes.

Climate awareness and action are still compatible with traditionally rugged adventure, as Fraser Morton’s account of the expeditions and activism of polar explorer Sir Robert Swan attests. We also spoke with Phoebe Smith and Dwayne Fields, whose #WeTwo project demonstrates that polar adventure can, and must, underpin a form of climate action that consciously connects with intersecting issues like gender and racial representation in adventure. That conversation is upcoming.

To inspire and direct climate action, we need strong stories and data - two things adventurers can help contribute. To this end we caught up with Rosie Watson, who is running mostly solo and unsupported across Europe and Asia in search of stories of climate-crisis living, and eco-adventurer and founder of environmental movement Planet Patrol, Lizzie Carr.

There is also a rich crossover between art, adventure and climate action - forming an essential cultural response to the crisis. The Wilderness Art Collective, whose artists are responding in thought-provoking, adventurous ways to the climate breakdown, embodies this fertile territory. 

Photo: Patrick Hendry

Running through these perspectives is a vital point: individual action is not enough. The climate crisis requires urgent, radical, systemic change. If we are serious about supporting this, we must go beyond ‘outdoor issues’, and certainly beyond simply being ‘outdoorsy’. Our final, but arguably most important piece is an eloquent, cautionary argument from environmental advocate and writer Em Hartova.

How else can the adventure world respond to the climate breakdown? We’re sure there are many ideas and actions we’ve missed in this Edition, we’d love to learn about them. As ever, please do say hello at info@adventureuncovered.com with any leads.

Thanks for reading, 

The Adventure Uncovered Team.

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