Sustainable Tourism: UNWTO Supports EBRD’s Web Tool for Green Technologies

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) are joining forces to promote sustainable tourism.

According to an announcement, the two organizations are aiming to accelerate the transfer of climate finance and make green technologies more accessible for the tourism sector through the Bank’s Green Technology Selector, an online shopping-style platform that lists best-in-class technologies from manufacturers around the world.

With the objective of advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, UNWTO supports the EBRD’s Green Technology Selector, which can complement existing UNWTO’s online resource efficiency tools such Hotel Energy Solutions (HES) or the ambitious Nearly Zero Energy Hotels (neZEH).

The hospitality industry and businesses servicing the tourism sector are able to access the Green Technology Selector to find more than 26,000 green technologies that benefit from EBRD support –from the EBRD’s Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF), the Green Trade Facilitation Programme (Green TFP) and the Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change programme (FINTECC).

Possible investments will improve energy efficiency, provide renewable energy and reduce water and resource use. They can include energy-efficient windows and doors, thermal insulation, lighting, construction equipment and machinery, photovoltaic solar panels and geothermal heat pumps.

“Buildings account for approximately 40 percent of the global energy use. This estimate can be even higher for the hospitality sector, which offers great potential for boosting resource and energy efficiency, and reducing its carbon footprint. We are delighted to continue our cooperation with UNWTO and support the tourism sector through the challenging times of the coronavirus pandemic,” EBRD Director, Property & Tourism Vlaho Kojakovic said.

The EBRD and UNWTO are longstanding partners. In 2019, the two institutions renewed their strong commitment and signed an agreement in the framework of the EBRD’s support of inclusive and sustainable tourism in the economies where the Bank invests, particularly in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region and the Western Balkans.