Carbon Neutral Participants Star at UNWTO Conference

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has requested that all participants of the forthcoming International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism to register with carbon offsetting organizations. The conference is to be held next month at Davos, Switzerland.

Carbon offsetting decreases greenhouse gas emissions and can involve renewable energy projects such as solar, wind power, hydroelectricity, and the plantation of trees amongst others.

The aim is to make all travel, accommodation and activity related to the conference carbon neutral. UNWTO will not charge a registration fee for the second international conference on climate change and tourism as a result of financial support from its sponsors.

With reference to this point, UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General Geoffrey Lipman said: “We want to send a signal to our own industry that carbon offsetting is easy and that it will make a real difference over time, along with adaptation, mitigation and new technology.”

He added that they also want “to encourage a trend in the sector that carbon offset schemes will be used eventually by all meetings and events.”

As the lead tourism organization in the United Nations family, the organization wants to ensure that the tourism sector plays an active and responsible part in this global challenge. UNWTO’s commitment to sustainable development and the fight against poverty plays a crucial role in consideration of the wider implications of climate change.