Climate Change

During my time with IUCN I became interested in climate change, but I was not actively involved.  When I was Director-General of INBAR, I learned of the potential that bamboo has for climate change mitigation and adaptation.  INBAR is Observer to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and I spoke at every Conference of Parties to the Convention.

In 2009, I organized the 80th anniversary of Maurice Strong.  This brought me into contact with Prof Geoffrey Lipman, and we re-connected when I was in Beijing.  Geoffrey is the founder of the Belgian-based not-for-profit Green Growth & Travelism Institute (GGTI), and he created SUNx – the Strong Universal Network.  In 2019, an agreement was signed with the Malta Tourism Authority to create SUNx Malta.

 

Climate Friendly Travel and Tourism

SUNx Malta is a not-for-profit organization, based in Malta, that has created a unique, low cost system for travel and tourism companies and communities to help them transform to the New Low-Carbon Climate Economy.

We continue the vision for and actions of the late Maurice Strong to be a catalyst for the tourism sector transformation and a conduit to mainstream UN Climate & Sustainability targets.  Sunx Malta advances and enables “Climate Friendly Travel”; tourism and travel that is Low-Carbon and linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SG), and that follows the Paris Agreement 1.5 degree trajectory.

The SUNx Malta programme has 4 inter-related components:

SUNx Malta has developed a “Climate Friendly Travel Framework” which provides a simple 4 step approach for any Travel & Tourism company or community – no matter its size or location – to make the transformation to climate friendly travel, on its own terms and at its own pace.

  1. Commit to a 2050 climate neutral ambition
  2. Register the ambition in the Climate Friendly Travel & Tourism Registry
  3. Support a trainee for the Climate Friendly Travel Diploma course
  4. Use this trained representative to inspire a group of local tourism climate champions

 

Climate Friendly Travel & Tourism Registry

The idea of a climate reduction ambitions registry for Nations was built into the 2015 Paris Agreement.  All Parties to the agreed to transparently declare and progressively increase their Carbon reduction ambitions to 2050, so as to secure global temperature stabilized at tolerable levels for human survival.  These so called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) are filed and routinely updated on the Climate Change Convention’s 2050 Ambitions Registry.

Shortly after, the Registry was extended to non-state actors like Regions, cities and companies, and it incorporated an earlier UNEP initiative aimed at stakeholders.  Yet, in SUNx Malta’s first sector review, in 2019, we noted the limited engagement of Travel & Tourism stakeholders.  SUNx Malta subsequently reached agreement with the Climate Change Convention to create a discrete Travel and Tourism Ambitions Registry.  This will serve as a conduit to the Convention and the data provider for the travel and tourism Sector, enabling full participation in the mainstream Global Climate Action Platform.

The SUNx Malta Registry was launched on 25 September 2020 during the climate week that formed part of the 2020 United Nations General Assembly programme.  A report of the launch is available here: https://travelcommunication.net/featured/sunx-malta-launches-climate-friendly-travel-registry/.

I have been appointed as the Registrar of this new initiative, and my main role is to promote the Registry inside and outside the Travel & Tourism sector and to secure engagement from tourism and travel companies and communities.

 

How will the Registry work?

As a catalyst this Registry will be open to all travel & tourism companies and communities, whether or not they have created a 2050 Carbon Neutral Ambition yet.  It will cover transport, hospitality, travel service and infrastructure providers – from the smallest to the largest.

Registrants who are starting the carbon reduction multi-decade strategy will have two years to benefit from the SUNx Malta knowledge and support systems, as well as access the innovation, strategy, learning and visibility Hubs.

Registrants who have already embarked on a 2050 Plan will be able to readily incorporate those details in the Registry, with little or no extra work.  They can cross-reference any other mainstream carbon reduction initiative they are already involved with, as the SUNx Malta Registry is complementary to such other initiatives.

 

Why register?

Why would a travel and tourism company or community register a climate change response plan on the SUNx Malta Climate Friendly Travel Registry?  There are four very compelling reasons to do so:

  • Responsively: Everyone should make efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.  Your customers are increasingly doing this and they are expecting it from you as well.  Recording your plan on the Registry is a way to show your good intentions;
  • Economically: Reducing your carbon footprint will reduce your operational costs, as daily CO2 emissions are typically a result from electricity use.  In addition, you can use registration for branding and advertising purposes.  You will receive a recognition badge, and we will help you with outreach to several global marketing partners.
  • Politically: All countries are preparing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention to Combat Climate Change (UNFCCC).  The Convention has invited other sectors to step up to the plate, and contribute to these NDCs.  The SUNx Malta register is the only official registry for tourism and travel that is recognized by UNFCCC;
  • Strategically:  Some countries are already preparing national legislation to enforce climate action, and this will eventually become law throughout the world.  As we have seen with the COVID crisis, Governments will impose fines and penalties for non-compliance.  Registering your ambitions now will put you in a stronger position to have a full plan when it becomes a legal obligation;

For more information, go to: https://climatefriendly.travel/