Posts Tagged :

sustainable-first

Conservation, Education and Climate Action, eXist

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Conservation, Education and Climate Action, eXist

Valetta, Malta, August 4, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / Please find SUNx Malta’s latest monthly bulletin eXist, advancing our Climate Friendly Travel (CFT) system. The eXist project, a monthly bulletin to showcase the stories of SUNx Malta’s growing community battling against the climate crisis. In the second edition of eXist, editor Mark Bibby Jackson chats with Sibylle Riedmiller, Director at Chumbe Island in Tanzania.

If you share our view that we must Act Now to build Resilience to an eXistential threat that is intensifying, why not encourage a young graduate to join our CFT Summer School, for an intensive week of online learning in September. At the end they will become a “Strong Climate Champion” ready to help Tourism companies and communities to transform for a greener, cleaner future.

To read the latest monthly bulletin eXistplease click here

First published at TravelCommunication.net

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

UNWTO: Tourism Takes Action on Plastic Waste and Pollution

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UNWTO: Tourism Takes Action on Plastic Waste and Pollution

Madrid, Spain, July 13, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / Tourism businesses and destinations are stepping up their commitment to sustainability. Aimed at reducing waste and pollution across the sector, the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI) is welcoming 32 new signatories, with every global region represented behind the shared goal.

The Initiative unites the tourism sector behind a common vision to address the root causes of plastic pollution. It enables businesses, governments and other tourism stakeholders to lead by example in the shift towards a circular economy of plastics. Among the 32 new signatories  are organizations such as TUI Group, AC Hotels by Marriott, Palladium Hotel Group, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Hostelling International, Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association  and Visit Valencia. These new additions bring the total number of signatories up to 93 companies and organizations. These include organizations from stages of the tourism value chain, including accommodation providers, tour operators, online platforms, suppliers, waste managers and supporting organizations.

Read all the latest UNWTO News and Updates here.

Andreas Vermöhlen, Manager for Sustainability, Circular Economy and Sustainable Development at TUI Group said: “Together we can make important steps towards less unnecessary single-use plastic in the world and shift towards a circular economy.”

Addressing plastic pollution is essential to sustainably restart tourism, preserve destinations and contribute to climate action

To mark the confirmation of the new signatories, UNWTO and the United Nations Environment Programme, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, held a special  panel discussion with the theme Eliminate. Innovate. Circulate. Strategies from the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative. Participants included Accor Group, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Palladium Hotel Group, Chumbe Island Coral Park and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance.

Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO Secretary-General said: “Addressing plastic pollution is essential to sustainably restart tourism, preserve destinations and contribute to climate action. We are proud to see the number of signatories growing continuously since the launch of the initiative.”

Read all the latest UNWTO News and Updates here.

Alongside this, a keynote presentation on “A Life Cycle Approach – Key messages for tourism businesses” further highlighted the aims of the GTPI, with a special focus on innovation and the importance of context-based approaches to ensure plastics are circulated back into the economy rather than thrown away after use.

First published at TravelCommunication.net – Global Travel News

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

WTTC and UNEP Release Report on Single-Use Plastic to Advance Sustainability

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WTTC and UNEP Release Report on Single-Use Plastic to Advance Sustainability

London, United Kingdom, Jun 17, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), launch a major new report today, addressing the complex issue of single-use plastic products within Travel & Tourism.

‘Rethinking Single-Use Plastic Products in Travel & Tourism’ launches as countries around the world begins to reopen, and the Travel & Tourism sector starts to show signs of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic which has been devastating.

Read all the latest WTTC News and Updates here.

The report is a first step to mapping single-use plastic products across the Travel & Tourism value chain, identifying hotspots for environmental leakages, and providing practical and strategic recommendations for businesses and policymakers.

It is intended to help stakeholders take collective steps towards coordinated actions and policies that drive a shift towards reduce and reuse models, in line with circularity principles, as well as current and future waste infrastructures.

The report’s recommendations include redefining unnecessary single-use plastic products in the context of one’s own business; giving contractual preference to suppliers of reusable products; proactively planning procedures that avoid a return to single-use plastic products in the event of disease outbreaks; supporting research and innovation in product design and service models that decrease the use of plastic items, and revising policies and quality standards with waste reduction, and circularity in mind.

Virginia Messina, Senior Vice President and Acting CEO, WTTC said: “WTTC is proud to release this important high-level report for the sector, focusing on sustainability and reducing waste from single-use plastic products in Travel & Tourism. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the sustainability agenda with businesses and policymakers now putting an even stronger focus on it. As a growing priority, businesses are expected to continue to reduce single-use plastic products waste for the future and drive circularity to protect not only our people, but importantly, our planet.

“It is also becoming clear that consumers are making more conscious choices, and increasingly supporting businesses with sustainability front of mind.”

Single-use plastic products can be a threat to the environment and human health and without deliberate effort across the sector, Travel & Tourism can and will contribute significantly to the issue.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had both negative and positive impacts on single-use plastics pollution.

The demand for single-use plastics items has increased with safety being a high concern among tourists and take-away services being on the rise. According to the Thailand Environment Institute, plastic waste has increased from 1,500 tons to a staggering 6,300 tons per day, owing to soaring home deliveries of food.

However, the pandemic has also catalysed consumer demand for green tourism experiences around the world, with a 2019 global study* finding 82% of respondents are aware of plastic waste and are already taking practical actions to tackle pollution.

The report recognises that global solutions are required to address corporate concerns about the use of single-use plastic products. It aims to support informed decision making based on the potential impacts of trade-offs and of unintended burden shifting when considering the transition to sustainable alternatives.

Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Director of the Economy Division, UNEP said: “Travel & Tourism has a key role to play in addressing the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as making circularity in the use of plastics a reality. 

“The advent of COVID-19 and consequent proliferation of single-use plastic products has added urgency to the crises. With this report, we hope to encourage stakeholders in this industry to come together to address this multifaceted challenge. Only by doing so, can we ensure meaningful and durable change.”

Read all the latest WTTC News and Updates here.

With around 90 percent of ocean plastic derived from land-based sources** and the annual damage of plastics to marine ecosystems amounting to US$13 billion per year***, proactively addressing the challenge of plastics within the Travel & Tourism sector is key.

First published at TravelCommunication.net – Global Travel News

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Mallorca Joins UNWTO Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories

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Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain, June 8, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has welcomed Mallorca’s Sustainable Tourism Observatory into its International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO). Mallorca, one of Europe’s top destinations for more than 70 years, welcoming millions of visitors every year, becomes the latest member of UNWTO’s global INSTO…

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

UNWTO: Tourism Stakeholders Invited to Share Progress on Climate Action

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Madrid, Spain, June 7, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / UNWTO is inviting public and private stakeholders from around the world to take part in a Global Survey of Climate Action in Tourism and help identify front-running initiatives and opportunities to accelerate climate action in tourism. Launched on World Environment Day, the survey aims to support the ongoing efforts of the sector to reduce its…

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Banyan Tree Group Partners with EarthDay.org Project to Amplify Sustainability

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Singapore, April 22, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising every year, and a 2018 study revealed that worldwide tourism accounted for 8% of such emissions from 2009 to 2013. To improve sustainability in line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement and United Nations (UN) Global Goals, the UN has been working with the travel industry to reduce its carbon footprint by 66%

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Apes Hill Golf Course in Barbados Leads the Way in Sustainability

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St. James, Barbados, April 19, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / Apes Hill Golf and Beach Club in St James, Barbados, is undergoing a major renovation with sustainability at the top of the agenda. With its ground-breaking sustainable initiatives, Apes Hill is working to become the most environmentally responsible golf course in the Caribbean – from the preservation of wildlife to operating in a power neutral…

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Virtuoso Poll Finds Responsible Travel is a Priority with Most Travelers

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Fort Worth, Texas, United States, April 18, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / Responsible tourism is very much on the minds of Virtuoso customers, according to new survey data from the consortium. The vast majority of those surveyed, 82%, said the pandemic has spurred them toward more responsible travel. And 70% said traveling sustainably enhances their vacation experience (only 7%

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

WISeKey and SUNx to Introduce First Ever Climate Change and Sustainability NFT

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 6, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / WISeKey to launch the NFT auction of the original SWATCH created for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, on Earth Day, April 22, 2021. This unique, first-off-the-line watch, designed by Maurice Strong under the theme “It’s in our Hands” it was given to his widow Hanne Strong, by the wife of the founder of Swatch Nicolas Hayek.

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

How Hotels in Asia are Pushing Sustainability Forward

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Cam Ranh, Vietnam, March 25, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / The Anam Cam Ranh has rolled out an eco-friendly key card, made of wood sourced from sustainably managed forests, that its guests use to access their rooms, suites and villas. The Anam is one of the first luxury resorts in Vietnam to replace polyvinyl chloride (PVC) key cards with the water-resistant wooden key cards, certified by international non…

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News