Guest blog:Tourism must Walk and Chew Gum at the same time - The light at the end of the Covid 19 Tunnel
“Let me start
by making it clear that today and for the coming months
every government and industry
action must be focused on a total response, repeat total response, to the
global enemy of COVID 19. To health issues: livelihood issues: family issues
and business survival issues. It is war. Nothing is more important than
coherent national and international response, where co-ordinated, joined-up action is the only path open.”
As
the pandemic crisis intensifies, pulling the world economy towards recession
it’s clear that the Travel &
Tourism sector is in the centre of the maelstrom. Airlines are slashing
flights: Cruise companies are cancelling programs: Hotels are seeing bookings
evaporate. And with it the entire Travel Ecosystem of airports, ports,
stations, along with meetings, sports events, theme parks, music festivals and
all the attendant hospitality services for feeding and entertaining travellers.
Some 10% of the global economy, driven directly and indirectly by this sector is grinding to a halt. Tens
of millions of jobs and household livelihoods are threatened. For tourism
dependent destinations – like small island states in the Caribbean and Asia or
developing countries in Africa, who have pinned their future on the tourism
card, massive portions of the economy have simply disappeared.
And it is right
that travel is curtailed when health authorities conclude this will help contain
the spread of the pandemic. It is necessary, to play our part, in
dealing with the urgent unknown enemy of COVID 19, that presents an immediate
massive threat to humanity. On the strategic
reality side, the health experts
led by WHO, see a pattern of widespread growth:
slow containment and development of a response. This will take time for
research: regulatory approval and scaling to global production levels.
Yet we also know that no matter how serious this crisis is, business will eventually restart,
and all industry activity
will have to be reset to respond
smartly. It may take a year or more, no one
knows but when the end comes, we will be ready to pick up the pieces, adapt our
socio- economic patterns and get on with life. Travel & Tourism will
reignite and continue to be a pivotal part of global socio-economic
development. It is in our DNA.
BUT and it is a big BUT, the other massive crisis facing humanity,
Climate Change, has not gone away; and it will not go away. It is existential and notwithstanding the media dominating, very real devastation of COVID19, we simply cannot
afford to take our eye off the climate ball.
To
use an analogy, while COVID 19 is like a knife into the body of humanity, it is
not an existential threat, it’s a very serious wound BUT the Climate Crisis is
different, it is more like the case of the unsuspecting frog being gradually
killed in a pot of slowly but inexorably heating water. There’s no reaction. No
escape. No recovery. We have 7-10 years to get on the Paris 1.5oC,
Climate Neutral trajectory. But only if we act much more decisively now.
At SUNx Malta we think the sector can walk and
chew gum at the same time, and now is the very moment to demonstrate that. When
all historical operational and development assumptions are being re-evaluated
and countries communities: companies and consumers are re-casting their future
Travel & Tourism related plans and actions. It is a perfect time to build
Climate Friendly Travel into tomorrow’s new operating equation.
We
have conceived Climate Friendly Travel as a vehicle to help sector
transformation – measured to manage the good
and bad impacts coherently – particularly the carbon related impacts: green to reflect the SDG targets: 2050 proof to tie into the Paris 1.5oC
trajectory. We believe all Travel must meet these criteria going forward.
Together
with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), we have issued a Report on
the State of the Sector response to the Climate Crisis, that calls for action
now and action faster. And with the support of Malta’s Minister for Tourism and
Consumer Protection, Julia Farrugia Portelli,
who has declared her country
to be a global Centre of Climate
Friendly Travel, we are
deploying tools to help the entire sector in its essential transformation. Last
month we convened 35 global experts in Malta who underscored the real urgency
of a coherent response, starting now. We are building a Registry for Climate
Friendly Travel Ambitions for the sector – linked to the UNFCCC Registry, to
support commitment. We will showcase good practice to encourage others. We will
train 100,000 Strong Climate Champions from the eco island of Gozo, Malta,
to deploy across all UN States by 2030, to launch a worldwide education and awareness initiative. We
are joining with partners inside and outside the sector in SDG 17 Agreements to
advance these goals and we are seeking other likeminded partners to help reinforce and spread the Climate
Friendly Travel message.
What
can Travel & Tourism stakeholders do to lock into this transformation?
Commit to Climate Neutral 2050 & implement a Climate Friendly Travel carbon
reduction program: file that program on SUNx Malta’s
Climate Friendly Travel Ambitions Registry
& trust bright
young green enthusiasts to keep it up to date and help you fulfil your commitment. We’ll help as well:
we are all in this together. This was the half century global campaign of our
inspirational founder Maurice Strong, the father of sustainable development.
His vison is our mission.
So
do not despair about the dramatically dangerous
threat of COVID 19 – be vigilant, we will prevail and rekindle the positive
course of human development BUT let’s at the same time, respond urgently and
respond now to the existential threat
of Climate Change. We can and we must do both in synch.
SUNx Malta is a legacy
for the late Maurice Strong,
father of Sustainable
Development: its goal is to advance Climate Friendly Travel ~ measured: green:
2050 proof. Geoffrey Lipman is former Assistant Secretary General UNWTO;
President WTTC; Executive Director IATA
Contact Olly@thesunprogram.com
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