The four suggestions form part of a new initiative unveiled at London Climate Action Week this week. A discussion paper, Where Next? Big ideas for tourism’s climate transition, will form the basis of a consultation process leading up to the COP30 UN Climate Summit in Brazil in November.
They include:
- Creating a global climate risk register for destinations to help governments, businesses and investors act on the most urgent threats.
- A global initiative to phase out “harmful” tourism models. The Travel Foundation says this includes “high-emission short breaks or over-touristed hotspots”. It would offset the impact by “re-skilling workers, building regenerative alternatives and redirecting investment toward low-carbon, community-owned enterprises”.
- Setting up a climate justice fund for tourism destinations, with funding priorities set by those experiencing the impacts; and
- Making community planning a requirement in tourism development. This includes redistributing tax revenues, mandating local procurement and ensuring communities have “meaningful influence” over tourism growth and investment decisions.
The Travel Foundation also said coordinated international reforms were needed to reduce emissions, such as by including international aviation emissions in destination carbon budgets, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies for aviation in favour of low-carbon transport, and managing demand through targeted policy measures.
Jeremy Sampson, Travel Foundation chief executive, said: "We’ll be working closely with destinations, partners and global stakeholders to turn this agenda into tangible action - through pilots, partnerships, policy shifts and collaborative initiatives.
"So today isn’t just a launch, it’s an invitation to contribute to the consultation and to help shape the agenda we’ll take to Brazil and beyond. Because transformation isn’t someone else’s job, it’s everyone’s. And it starts here.”
Nina Boys, Preferred Travel Group’s vice-president of sustainability, added: “Bold, collaborative climate leadership is more imperative today than ever before. The question is no longer must we act, but rather how far can the tourism industry go in demonstrating what is possible when we turn big ideas into collective action and impact at scale.
"We are proud to support this ambitious agenda to promote more equitable and resilient tourism models with the power to shift systems and drive needed change."
