Over 50 governments signed a UN declaration to make tourism more climate-friendly, in what is hailed as a major achievement of the climate summit in Azerbaijan.
Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili states:
“For the first time, the Action Agenda of the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties has included tourism. The First Ministerial Meeting on Enhanced Climate Action in Tourism marks a turning point, when ambition meets action, and vision transforms into commitment. At COP29, the global tourism sector made clear its commitment to positive transformation for a better future for our planet.”
“At COP29 we have achieved today an historic milestone by being included in the UN Climate Change Conference Action Agenda for the first time,” U.N. Executive Director for Tourism Zoritsa Urosevic further states.
The countries that signed the declaration on Enhanced Climate Action on Tourism have pledged to recognize the need to address tourism when drafting climate plans, such as their Nationally Determined Contributions. The next update of NDCs, in which governments describe policies to reduce emissions that cause global warming, are due in February.
The declaration was also accompanied by a number of other initiatives, such as a framework presented by hotel industry body World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, aimed at measuring and reporting data such as greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste and energy usage across the sector.
“The collated data would help the tourism industry and travellers understand their impact” said CEO Glenn Mandziuk.
“We are an industry that has a vested interest in the protection of each destination,” Mandziuk said on the sidelines of the meeting in Baku. “We have to have a conversation where we can play a bigger role.”
