Over 50 countries have signed a UN declaration to combat climate change's impact on tourism.
The declaration, a vital outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan, showcased tourism's contribution to global GDP and greenhouse emissions.
The Signatories, like emerging economies heavily reliant on tourism revenue, pledged to prioritize climate action within their national plans. More than 50 governments have signed a UN declaration to make tourism around the globe more climate-friendly the United Nations for the first time," UN Executive Director for Tourism Zoritsa Uroseviv told a news conference.
Urosevic said the global tourism industry accounts for 3 per cent of global GDP and is the source of 8.8 per cent of greenhouse emissions.
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 Nationality Determined Contributions. The next update of NDCs, in which governments describe policies to reduce emissions that cause global warming, is due in February.
Tourism accounts for a large share of a government's hard currency revenues, particularly in merging countries. It can be highly exposed to climate events such as hurricanes, heatwaves and droughts.
"We now understand that the future of our business depends on the sustainability of our actions today," said Kanan Gasimov, head of administration at Azerbaijan's tourism agency. The declaration was accompanied by several other initiatives, such as the framework presented by the 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 collected 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 protecting each destination," Manziuk said on the sidelines of the meeting in Baku. We have to have a conversation where we can play a bigger role." The group represents 55,000 hotels, totalling more than 7 million, and counts big names such as Accor, Hilton, and Marriott among its members.
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