This was the stark warning from Aisling Connaughton, co-founder of sustainability consultancy CYD Connects, who addressed delegates during the TTG Fairer Travel Sustainability Forum on Tuesday (4 July).

"The climate crisis is not the problem – it is the symptom of an unbalanced governmental and societal system," said Connaughton. "If you don’t have a sustainability strategy, you will not survive – you have to start thinking longer term." 

She advised the industry to move away from "carbon tunnel-vision", which is where companies focus only on carbon reduction and ignore the other 16 of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Connaughton continued: "Carbon is dominating the conversation, especially in travel. We have forgotten about the other 16 SDGs and are falling into carbon tunnel-vision – we are becoming blinkered.

"We must make sure that all stakeholders – including people and the planet – are valued and put at the forefront of our sustainable targets."

The Fairer Travel Sustainability Forum is the first in-person event of TTG’s Fairer Travel Week, which is taking place over 3–7 July. It will be followed by the Fairer Travel Diversity Forum on Wednesday (5 July) and TTG Travel Pride on Thursday (6 July).