Climate Crisis Requires More Urgent Action in Travel & Tourism — Earth Changers

At the end of February 2020, Earth Changers had the privilege of attending the inaugural Climate-Friendly Travel Think Tank. The group gathered 35 international thought-leaders from across academia, industry and government to debate the key issues on Climate Change in relation to Travel & Tourism. The key takeaway is that the eXistential Climate Crisis requires even more urgent action by the entire global Travel & Tourism sector than has been generally recognised to date and we must get onto the Paris 1.5C trajectory within the next 7- 10 years.

The goal was to review and update the first Climate Friendly Travel 2050 Ambitions Report which was released on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2019.

The Think Tank followed the core framework of Climate Friendly Travel: Measured (to Manage); Green (to Grow) and 2050-proof (to Innovate).

Climate Crisis Requires Urgent Action in Travel & Tourism:

The key calls to action from the Think Tank were:

• The Climate Crisis is eXistential
• “Climate Friendly Travel” must be adopt as an imperative and the new norm.
• Fully transforming all modes of transport is pivotal.
• Climate Financing: Travel & Tourism needs emerging Green Finance to secure adequate funds for transformation. Offsetting of carbon impacts were seen as short-term transition instruments but totally inadequate as a long-term solution. Aviation action to date is falling behind the rapidly intensifying transformation need.
• Emerging innovations and technologies.
• The SUNx Malta Climate Friendly Travel Registry of Ambitions: was reviewed and endorsed, as was the initiative with WISeKey to develop an innovative consumer facing secure platform.
• Education of the Next Generation: was underscored as a high priority.

“We must act now and we must act fast.We’re already seeing with the emerging Malta collaborative framework between Government and the Travel & Tourism Supply Chain, that a pioneering approach can achieve this. It can be replicated around the world, as States seek to fulfil their Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contributions.” ~Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President SUNx Malta

For more details, see: https://www.earth-changers.com/blog/2020/3/2/climate-crisis-requires-even-more-urgent-action-by-entire-global-travel-amp-tourism-sector

Originally published at https://www.earth-changers.com March, 2020.