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WTTC backs climate neutral goals

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LONDON, 14 December 2018: The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and UN Climate Change, earlier this week, showcased how the travel and tourism sector could take steps towards a carbon neutral status by 2050.

Last April, WTTC announced the agreement of a common agenda with UN Climate Change, an international treaty which aims for the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, paving the way for the Travel & Tourism industry to engage more effectively in the delivery of global goals around climate change.

At the  UN Climate Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, during the first Travel & Tourism event ever held at the annual event, both organisations addressed the links between Travel & Tourism and climate change and presented a pathway for the sector to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

WTTC president and CEO, Gloria Guevara said: “Travel and tourism has an important role to play around the world in economic development, presently accounting for 10.4% of global GDP and supporting 1 in 10 of all jobs, which is more than comparative sectors, such as automotive, chemicals manufacturing, banking and financial services.

“Given our sector’s contribution to social and economic development, it is important that Travel & Tourism plays its part in the drive towards climate neutrality, under the auspices of the UN Climate Change body,” said Guevara.

WTTC will support the establishment of an industry recognition scheme and the creation of an annual “State of the Climate” event to report, evaluate, monitor and share progress towards climate neutrality.

UN Climate Change executive secretary, Patricia Espinosa, encourages the Travel & Tourism sector to find new, innovative and sustainable ways to reduce its carbon footprint.

“On a basic level, doing so is simply a question of survival,” said Espinosa. “But on another level it’s about transforming your businesses to be part of a global economic shift — one marked by sustainable growth and powered by renewable energy.”

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