New York,
12 May 2010 - A global initiative to make
tourism worldwide environmentally, socially
and economically sustainable was presented
in New York on Wednesday.
The Global Partnership
for Sustainable Tourism will be led initially
by the French Government, and will be hosted
by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
"The partnership
is aiming high. The goal is to transform
the way tourism operates around the world
by seeking out and replicating successful,
sustainable policies, projects, and investments,"
said Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary General
for the UN and Executive Director of the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
"The impacts of poorly managed tourism
can be profound, damaging perhaps even destroying
the natural and cultural attractions that
tourists come to experience in the first
place while contributing to global and regional
challenges such as climate change and water
scarcity.
"However, there
are many potential, positive impacts. Well-managed
ventures can play a key role in assisting
countries towards the low-carbon, resource-efficient,
Green Economy urgently needed in the 21st
century. In doing so they can deliver not
only environmental, but significant social
and economic benefits," added Mr. Steiner.
The tourism sector is
a massive job creator and one of the world's
biggest industries representing some 5%
of the global GDP as well as accounting
for over 10% of current annual investment
worldwide, and as much as 50% in some developing
countries. Due to its strong economic multiplier
effect tourism can play a key role in the
shift to a green economy.
The Global Partnership
for Sustainable Tourism, presented at the
Commission for Sustainable Development meeting
in New York, is designed to identify and
disseminate successful initiatives from
anywhere in the world and make them applicable
elsewhere. The partnership will support
implementation of policy recommendations
and lessons learned in integrating sustainability
in tourism, and develop new tools and projects
where no existing solution has been found.
It is expected to have
worldwide reach, as its members are governments,
industry associations, and environmental
and social organizations, as well as UN
agencies. The future partnership initially
will be led by France, until a vote is held
at the inaugural annual meeting in Costa
Rica later this year. The partnership will
be housed at UNEP's Paris-based Division
of Technology, Industry and Economics. Other
partners include 35 other countries, organizations,
UN programmes and agencies and professionals,
among them the United Kingdom and the UN
World Tourism Organization.
The partnership's mission
and efforts will be based on the work of
the International Task Force on Sustainable
Tourism Development, a three-year United
Nations initiative led by France, and whose
members are the founders of this new partnership.
The task force developed a series of policy
recommendations to guide governments, destination
managers, financial institutions, and tourism
businesses towards good business models
while conserving nature, culture, and society.
The members also developed the Global Sustainable
Tourism Criteria, as global guidelines for
tourism businesses derived from more than
4,500 industry best practices from around
the world. The policy recommendations, the
successful task force projects, and the
criteria form part of the framework for
guiding the work of the partnership.
The new entity will
focus on policy, projects, tools, and networks
for all tourism stakeholders, at all levels,
by addressing and working on:
policy frameworks,
climate change,
environment and biodiversity,
poverty alleviation,
cultural and natural heritage,
private sector sustainable practices, and
finance and investment.
The partnership will
build on regional and global networks, including
the Tourism Sustainability Council and the
Sustainable Investment and Finance in Tourism
network. Both of these networks were developed
by and involve members of the Partnership,
and are based on the criteria.
Sustainable tourism
project examples are available at: www.unep.fr/scp/tourism/activities/taskforce/
For more information please contact: Moira
O'Brien-Malone, +33 6 82 26 93 73 ; Email:
moira.obrien-malone@unep.org
