World Travel & Tourism Council

The Environment

WTTC and its Members fully recognise the power of the Travel & Tourism industry in driving sustainable economic recovery and growth. The WTTC Environment Initiative was borne out of this shared vision. Perhaps one of the most central issues within environmental sustainability and one of the greatest threats to the world today is climate change.

The WTTC Environment Initiative aims to solidify the voice of leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry on this global issue and communicate good examples of the industry taking the global lead on sustainable development.

The Initiative consists of a Steering Group comprised of WTTC Members who are the ‘sound board’ for the outputs of the Initiative’s Working Group which consists of Heads of Environment, Sustainability and CSR within our WTTC Member companies.

To date, the Initiative has successfully embarked on a number of projects aimed at underlining its leadership role through:

• Leading the Challenge on Climate Change – In February 2009, Travel & Tourism industry leaders set out a vision for, and commitment to, tackling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the WTTC publication ‘Leading the Challenge on Climate Change’. The report also underscores the important role of partnership in attaining the vision defined by WTTC and calls for an alignment of goals and efforts among leaders of industry, employees, customers and policy-makers - whether in the commercial or public domain. Two years on from the launching, WTTC has explored through its Members, how the industry is moving on with this global challenge. Through interviews with its Members, WTTC demonstrates and celebrates the achievements of WTTC Members in advancing carbon emissions mitigation while helping their operating environment adapt to the impacts of climate change.
• Climate Change: A Joint Approach to Addressing the Challenge – A sound framework is critical for the Travel & Tourism industry to allow the transparency needed to make informed investment decisions, many of which can determine nations' economic development. WTTC has launched in 2010, its climate change policy recommendations outlining clear principles for governments guiding them towards fostering an enabling environment for the sustainable development of our industry while recognising its immense economic and developmental importance.
• Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative – In 2011, WTTC in conjunction with the International Tourism Partnership have embarked on a groundbreaking initiative for the hotel sector. The project aims to streamline the way the hotel industry measures and communicates carbon emissions to their clients. This is particularly relevant for corporate consumers who are interested in quantifying the potential carbon footprint of their hotel stay ad meeting/event at a hotel.
• Communiqué – It calls on governments to continue to develop the policy structure needed to ensure that Travel & Tourism can achieve low-carbon growth, even in the absence of a global agreement at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Durban. Broadly, it calls for a clear process of developing climate change policy preferably in consultation with the industry, thereby providing businesses with the confidence they need to operate and plan for the future. For the full text of the communiqué, please click here.
• Events – WTTC has organised a number of events at high-level forums such as the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen aimed at communicating examples of the industry moving forward on carbon emissions mitigation and adaptation projects.

For more information on the Environment Initiative, please contact Research and Activities