More than 50 countries have signed the United Nations declaration to make global tourism more climate-friendly, the United Nations said on Wednesday, in what was hailed as a major achievement of the Azerbaijan climate summit.
“Today we reached a historic milestone at COP29 by being included for the first time in the action agenda of the United Nations Climate Change Conference,” UN Tourism Executive Director Zoritsa Urosevic said in a press conference.
The global tourism industry accounts for 3% of global GDP and is the source of 8.8% of greenhouse gas emissions, Urosevic pointed out.
Countries that signed the Declaration on Strengthening Climate Action in Tourism committed to recognizing the need to address tourism in the development of climate plans, such as their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The next update to the NDCs, in which governments outline policies to reduce emissions that cause global warming, is due in February.
Tourism often accounts for a large portion of a government’s foreign exchange earnings, particularly in emerging countries, and can be highly exposed to weather events such as hurricanes, heat waves and droughts.
The declaration was accompanied by numerous other initiatives, such as a framework presented by the Global Alliance for Sustainable Hospitality, aiming to collect data such as greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste and the use of energy in the sector.
Source: Terra
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