One available solution targeting climate related issues in the tourism sector is the Glasgow Declaration: A Commitment to a Decade of Tourism Climate Action, which is a component of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme. The One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme is an initiative that is aimed at accelerating sustainable consumption and production within tourism policies and practices in order to address some of the issues associated with the tourism sector, including pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change.¹ In line with this mission, the Glasgow Declaration is meant to act as a catalyst for change in the tourism sector by accelerating climate action in the tourism industry and securing commitment from tourism stakeholders to decrease global emissions by half over the next decade with the overarching goal of reaching zero net emissions by 2050.²

According to recent research by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Transport Forum (ITF), CO2 emissions from tourism increased 60% between 2005 and 2016, with tourism-related transportation emissions accounting for 5% of global emissions in 2016.² Unless urgent efforts are made to decrease emissions in the tourism sector, it is anticipated that tourism related CO2 emissions will rise by 25% or more by 2030.² Accelerating climate action in the tourism sector is therefore integral to the resilience and sustainability of the tourism industry, as many of the activities associated with tourism are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.⁴ 

In order to ensure that climate action is congruent across all areas of tourism, the Glasgow Declaration is centered around five pathways that climate action plans must follow. These pathways include: Measuring, Decarbonizing, Regenerating, Collaborating, and Financing.² The first pathway, Measuring, requires stakeholders to measure and disclose all travel and tourism related emissions using methodologies that align with the UNCCC’s (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) guidelines on measuring, reporting and verification.² The second pathway, Decarbonizing, involves setting targets that align with current climate science in order to accelerate decarbonization in the tourism sector.² The third pathway, Regenerating, involves the restoration and protection of ecosystems in order to enhance the environment’s ability to draw in carbon, preserve biodiversity, and provide food security.² The fourth pathway, Collaborating, means bringing stakeholders together to share knowledge of risks and solutions, working together to ensure that climate action plans are as effective and coordinated as possible.² The fifth pathway, Financing, involves ensuring that organizational resources and capacity are sufficient to meet climate action objectives, including financing.²

By becoming signatories of the Glasgow Declaration, tourism stakeholders agree to uphold certain commitments outlined in the declaration which include: 

• Supporting global efforts to decrease carbon emissions by half by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by or before 2050.³
• Developing a climate action plan within 12 months of becoming a signatory and implementing those plans.³
• Aligning action plans with the five pathways to coordinate and accelerate climate action in the tourism sector.³
• Publicly reporting any progress that has been made towards meeting interim and long-term targets on an annual basis, as well as reporting what actions have been taken.³
• Working collaboratively to share good practices and solutions, encouraging other organizations to become signatories and supporting one another to reach targets as quickly as possible.³  

Potential stakeholders in the tourism industry that could become signatories of the Glasgow Declaration include (but are not limited to) governmental and institutional agencies, non-governmental organizations and international organizations, donors and financial institutions, the private sector and business associations, and academia from different geographical regions.² 

References

1. One Planet Network. (2022). Sustainable Tourism Programme. https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/programmes/sustainable-tourism
2. One Planet Network. (2022). Tourism Climate Action: Glasgow Declaration. https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/programmes/sustainable-tourism/glasgow-declaration
3. One Planet Network. (2022). Tourism Climate Action: Glasgow Declaration Become a Signatory. https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/programmes/sustainable-tourism/glasgow-declaration/join
4. The World Tourism Organization. (n.d.). Transforming Tourism for Climate Action. https://www.unwto.org/sustainable-development/climate-action