The project aims to reduce carbon emissions and improve resource efficiency from tourism, by transforming activities and services along the whole supply chain.
Why? Without introducing greener practices, by 2050 tourism’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are set to double, with even greater increases in water use and waste disposal. Tourism is vitally important to small island developing states, yet these destinations are among the first to suffer when it comes to tourism’s environmental impacts. The four countries involved in the project have been selected primarily because tourism is an essential part of their economies.
The approach: This ambitious project, led by UN Environment, is finding ways to reduce carbon emissions, as well as water-use and waste from tourism across four island states: Mauritius, Saint Lucia, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. The Travel Foundation is lead implementing partner in Mauritius and Saint Lucia, while other agencies lead in the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. The four-year project will look at the entire supply chain for three areas of tourism: accommodation, food/beverages, and events. If a dish is served, for instance, we will be examining how the food was produced, how it travelled to the restaurant and the waste created.
The project is supported by €5 million from the International Climate Initiative on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).