My main responsibility at present is to be the Registrar of the Strong Universal Network (SUNx) Climate Friendly Travel programme, as I explained in a previous post.  This post will highlight a number of the tourism enterprises that are listed on the Climate Friendly Travel registry.  I have tried to give a geographical spread, and focused on companies that have well developed climate change mitigation and adaptation activities.

Low carbon tourism activities

Climate Friendly Travel is tourism that is low carbon, and we have several enterprises that promote activities that are not just low carbon, but have no emissions whatsoever.  On the island of Gozo, in the Malta archipelago, Gozo Adventures provides a range of activities that have little or no impact on the environment.  They aim to be as carbon neutral as possible and to respect the environment.  They offer only people-powered activities like rock climbing, archery and kayaking, electric bikes and Segway services, and do not run or promote motor-based activities, or anything they feel is polluting, damaging, noisy or annoying to local residents.  The booking and accounting staff work from home to avoid commuting and the unnecessary powering of an additional office, while their computers and electric bike are powered by their own solar panels.

Rock climbing with Gozo Adventures

On the other side of the world, in Bangkok, the Capital of Thailand Just Nok Tours arranges cycling tours through town.  She has several itineraries, but it all revolves around cycling.  This introduces tourists to the “other” side Bangkok, and cycle trips include visits to allotments and home gardens, trips along the local canals and traditional floating markets, sightseeing of local landmarks and more.  Nok avoids the main roads and the main tourist areas, but night trips include the royal palace and neighbouring landmarks.

Game viewing by electric cars

Tourism in East Africa is often about game viewing, and typically this requires 4-wheel drive diesel or petrol vehicles.   Green safaris in Zambia has a different approach.  Many of their lodges are entirely run off solar farms, utilise water reticulation and biogas systems, and have banned zero-use plastics, among other interventions.

Ila Safari Lodge became the first lodge in Zambia to run silent solar-powered safaris on both land and water.  Electric mountain bikes are used to explore the Busanga Plains from Chisa Busanga Camp and Kaya Mawa on Likoma Island.  At Shawa Luangwa Camp, the electric cruiser enables visitors to  the South Luangwa National Park to have  silent game drives.  Tongabezi Lodge has just launched the first ever electric Dhow in the world for Silent Safari cruising on the Zambezi River in a hand-crafted wooden boat.

Emboo River Lodge in Kenya also uses electric safari vehicles.   140m2 of solar panels provide energy to the camp and solar heaters ensure that guests have warm water for their morning shower.  The lodge has the first Fast Charger in the Maasai Mara and that charges the Electric Safari Vehicles.

Emboo River’s lagoons are lush areas with local plants and frogs, and the wetlands vegetation filters all waste water of the lodge.  It has a hydroponic vegetable and herb garden that provides the ingredients for the evening meal.   Organic waste goes into Emboo River’s biodigester, and produces biogas for cooking.

Visitors to Enboo River Lodge plant their own trees in the tree nursery. This allows them to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from their transport to the Maasai Mara.

All round climate friendly travel

Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort in Aruba is the Caribbean’s first and only certified Carbon Neutral Resort.  At COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, the owner of the resort was one of the first signatories of the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism.  SUNx Malta is also one of the early signatories of the Glasgow Declaration.  The goal of the declaration is for every hospitality entity worldwide to commit to decrease dangerous emissions by half in 2030 and to be net zero by 2050.

Among its many climate friendly travel initiatives, the resort ensures that is has the lowest per-occupied-room electricity usage of all hotels in Aruba, and keeps its carbon footprint low by sourcing local suppliers and products made on Aruba.  Solar panels are heating water for guest rooms and the laundry, and the hotel has a very efficient Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning system.  ECO-power fitness machines produce power instead of drawing power from the grid.  Water reducers cut down water flow by 60% in all showers and faucets, and all sink and shower water is treated and reused in the gardens.  The hotel has LED lighting throughout, and a solar-heated whirlpool.

The beach at Bukuti & Tara Beach Hotel

On the other side of the world The Pavilions Himalayas in Nepal is a climate friendly travel resort that aims to give back to the local community in Pokhara.  The hotel is run exclusively by solar electricity by solar electricity produced within the resort itself. Carefully selected electrical lights and appliances are used including efficient LED bulbs which have an exceptionally long lifetime and save a significant amount of energy.  Rainwater harvesting provides over 50% of the resort’s water needs. All of the structures have large roofs which collect rain water that is channeled to large underground tanks in every villa.  This water is filtered naturally and reused in the showers, tubes and sinks.  The soapy ‘grey water’ from the showers, baths and sinks is treated by bio sand filters and plants, and then reused for flushing the toilets and landscaping purposes.  Each villa has two efficient solar panels to heat water for the majority of the year.  If the water is not hot enough due to overcast skies during the monsoon or winter seasons, the centralised heat exchanging pumps automatically kick in.   The insulation of the buildings, combined with the natural cross ventilation through windows and passive solar design helps keep the rooms at a comfortable temperature throughout the year, and the resort does not use air conditioners to heat or cool the rooms except for a few villas that have the latest eco-friendly AC units.

Institutional support for Climate Friendly Travel

In 2019, the Government of Malta signed an SDG17 Partnership Agreement with the not-for-profit Green Growth & Travelism Institute in Brussels which created SUNx Malta as a global driver of Climate Friendly Travel – aspiring for a Nature friendly/SDG linked/Paris 1.5 degree average temperature rise ceiling trajectory.

The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) has since developed a 2030 tourism strategy that will be guided by the principles of Climate Friendly Travel by implementing a set of local and international actions through its Malta Tourism Obervatory with the objective of Establishing Malta as a Centre for Climate Friendly Travel.

In Uganda, we are negotiating an agreement with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, who are the Government agency responsible for the management of 10 national parks, 12 wildlife reserves, 5 Community Wildlife Management Areas and 13 Wildlife Sanctuaries. The Tourism Officer in the Authority is our main liaison, as much of the tourism in Uganda is focused on gorilla watching and nature exploration.

Meanwhile, in Bali, Indonesia, Ecotourism Bali is working on an alternative development trajectory for the hospitality industry, with support from the Strong Universal Network.  This so-called Plan B will consider the effects of climate change on tourism in Bali, while identifying key actions to reduce the environmental and climate impact from the tourism industry.  They have helped to list nearly 100 companies in the Climate Friendly Travel registry.

A snapshot of progress

These are just some of the many registered companies.  At last count, we are approaching 500 registrations, and some of these are companies with more than one outlet.  It is truly a growing community of Climate Friendly Travel partners.

The growing Climate Friendly Travel community