NÎMES, France — The global travel and tourism
industry, which was hard hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, is recovering as
countries around the world reopened their borders, governments lifted their
travel restrictions, and pent up demand for travel continue unabated. But
climate change remains one of the main challenges the sector is grappling with
as heat waves, floods, and droughts are threatening tourist destinations across
the globe.
اضافة اعلان
The number of International travelers reached 57
percent of pre-pandemic levels between January and July this year, according to
the World Tourism Organization. An estimated 474 million tourists travelled
internationally during the first seven months, compared to 175 million in the
same months of 2021.
The increase in the number of tourists is welcome
news for many countries that lost a big share of their revenues as a result of
the pandemic.
Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries.
Before the pandemic, it accounted for one in four of new jobs worldwide and one
in 10 jobs worldwide, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
Its contribution to the global GDP stood at 10.3 percent (USD 9.6 trillion).
But there is a downside. Tourism accounts for 8–11
percent of greenhouse gas emissions, which causes global warming. Aviation
alone is responsible for 2 percent of global CO2 emissions, according to the
International Air Transport Association (IATA).
As tourism is growing, the need to mitigate the
negative impact of climate change was a major theme discussed at a two-day
conference held in Nîmes, France, entitled “Transforming Travel to Develop
Sustainability”.
The A World for Travel Nîmes Forum brought together
at least 300 tourism executives, dignitaries, tourism ministers, and industry
leaders to discuss ideas and exchange expertise on best practices to ensure the
long-term sustainability of the tourism sector.
The impact of climate change was already felt in
many countries around the world and most recently in the southern Greek island
of Crete, a popular holiday destination. Severe torrential floods killed at
least two people. European cities have also experienced unprecedented heat
waves in the summer at the height of the tourism season, with wildfires raging
across Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, and Greece.
Efforts are underway to combat the negative impact
of climate change. The 27th edition of the UN Conference on Climate Change or
COP27 will be hosted in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, next week.
The conference aims to limit greenhouse gas
emissions, finance climate action, and address the loss and damage of climate
change in developing countries. The main goal is to keep global temperature
rise to well below 2°C and to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C to
prevent climate related disasters. This was already enshrined in the Paris Agreement,
signed by 194 countries in 2015, in response to the threat of global warming.
“The global
warming is affecting sea levels and ski resorts, which will be demolished if no
action is taken,” Ghad Shalaby, Egyptian deputy tourism minister, said at the conference.
“We have to move from promises and talks to action and put together a plan.”
Egypt is hoping wealthy countries keep up their
promises to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 to developing nations to help
them cope with climate change; a pledge which was taken at a UN climate summit
in Copenhagen in 2009.
“Financing green transition is pivotal when
addressing global warming and the impact of climate change. Therefore, wealthy
countries are held responsible,” she told
Jordan News.
Ratcheting up action against change climate requires
collective commitments on an international level to make progress. Besides, the
momentum on climate action has stalled as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.
Still, tourism businesses and aviation industry
leaders are working on reducing greenhouse emissions.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN
body overseeing aviation, adopted this month a long-term goal of net-zero
carbon emissions by 2050.
“It is an important step which lays the framework
for investors in the airline industry to support sustainable aviation,” said
Didier Brechemier, senior partner at Roland Berger, a global consultancy with
headquarters based in Germany. “It is an ambitious goal that would encourage
those operating in the industry to invest in new energies.”
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