NEWS


The WTTC acknowledges travel and tourism accounts for 8%-10% of greenhouse gas emissions


Sector pledges emissions cuts ahead of Cop26 ‘Transport Day’


Ian Taylor


Pledges to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions dominated the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow this week, with the UK government due to weigh in on ‘Transport Day’ on Wednesday. Travel and tourism


leaders led the way with ‘net zero’ pledges. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) joined UN climate organisations in launching a ‘Net Zero Roadmap’ on Tuesday, acknowledging the industry is responsible for 8%-10% of GHG emissions. Members of cruise association


Clia agreed on Monday to pursue ‘net zero’ sailing by 2050 and a 40% fleet-wide reduction of carbon emissions by 2030. Wednesday was due to see the


launch of a ‘Clydebank Declaration’ travelweekly.co.uk STORY TOP


on zero-emission shipping and the establishment of a new International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition of states led by the UK, with a declaration on emissions reduction. The Aviation Environment


Federation (AEF), a lobby group which works with the industry, described the coalition as “a useful initiative” but said: “The government hopes to head off criticism and promote the idea that the UK is leading efforts to decarbonise the sector.” It noted the government has


committed to include aviation and shipping in targets under the UK Climate Change Act but said: “Ministers have not set out a credible plan for achieving this.” “The government published a ‘jet


zero’ strategy last autumn that talked about zero emission aircraft and new technologies. But so far it has no proposals for overcoming the cost


and other barriers to their rollout.” The WTTC’s Net Zero Roadmap,


produced with the UN Environment Programme, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and consultancy Accenture, warns of the impacts of climate change on travel and offers guidelines for reaching net zero by 2050 for accommodation, tour operators, aviation, cruise and travel intermediaries. WTTC president Julia Simpson


warned of “rising sea levels, deforestation and loss of animal and plant species”, and said: “Communities that rely on tourism are first in line to see the impact.” The roadmap, produced in


collaboration with WWF, Iata and Clia among others, calls on governments to give travel “the same level of support offered to other sectors”. Emily Weiss, head of Accenture’s


travel industry group, described it as a “pragmatic but ambitious course


of action”, saying: “It identifies the levers where travel can turn a corner on emissions.” This week’s announcements


followed the Glasgow Declaration issued last week by more than 300 signatories including Aito, Etoa, VisitScotland, Skyscanner and the WTTC, pledging “to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net zero as soon as possible before 2050”. Launching the declaration, Intrepid


Travel co-founder and chairman Darrell Wade urged industry colleagues to “sign now”, saying: “Climate change is an existential crisis. If we don’t fix it, we don’t have an industry.” The Sustainable Hospitality


Alliance of major hotel groups also announced a ‘Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality’ to be launched in March 2022, and a coalition of destinations including the UK, France and Spain unveiled a new Sustainable Tourism Global Center in Saudi Arabia.


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PICTURES: Shutterstock/Graham Tomlin, Rafapress


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