Climate change talks raise hopes for rejuvenated tourism industry

MANILA, Philippines - The travel and tourism industry remains hopeful the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) taking place in Paris next week will bring about positive results to maintain tourism inclusiveness and sustainability.

The Airports Council International (ACI) and other members of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC) reiterate the industry’s commitment to make a meaningful and long-term contribution to fighting climate change.

“We have a serious responsibility to ensure that we decouple the growth of the sector from its impact on our environment to ensure that tourism can continue to contribute to socio-economic inclusiveness and development in the long term,” GTAC chairman David Scowsill said.

Tourism contributes about 10 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and supports one in 11 of all jobs. Over one billion people cross international borders yearly, a number expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030.

“The growth in travel and tourism will bring about enormous social and economic development across the world, particularly for least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states,” he added.

Furthermore, important industries which comprise the travel and tourism sector including aviation and shipping, have also expressed their long-term commitment to alleviating climate change.

The aviation industry and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have set aligned goals of improving fuel efficiency and stabilizing net aviation carbon dioxide emissions from 2020 through carbon neutral growth.

 These include the adoption of new technology and alternative fuels, improved operations, better use of infrastructure, and the development of a global market-based measure to enable the industry to stabilize its carbon dioxide emissions from 2020.

On the other hand, the cruise and shipping sector is targeting to build new cruise ships with energy efficiency design standards for a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide by 2030 as well as utilizing special lighting to reduce power consumption by up to 20 percent.