COP29 to Feature Thematic Day on Climate Change and Tourism for First Time

Tourism’s place in global climate action will be center stage on November 20 at the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), more commonly known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

COP29 officially began on November 11 and will run until November 22. A major gathering under the UNFCCC, the event has a primary focus on advancing climate action, finalizing finance goals, and improving transparency standards to support global climate commitments. It includes sessions for key climate agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

COP29 to welcome tourism ministers

For the first time, the UN Climate Change conference of the parties will welcome tourism ministers, placing the sector firmly within the COP29 Action Agenda and providing a high-level platform for dialogue – at the initiative and joint leadership of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism).

According to UN Tourism, the inclusion reflects the organization’s leadership in shifting towards a science-based approach for climate action within the sector, building on the Glasgow Declaration Initiative and the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme. The event will feature the First Ministerial Meeting on Climate Action in Tourism, followed by three thematic roundtables on decarbonization, regeneration, and finance.

Baku Declaration: Tourism steps up its ambitions

The COP29 Presidency will lead the launch of the Baku Declaration on Enhanced Climate Action in Tourism. The Declaration is a call to action in response to the need to develop more economy-wide Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, as called for by UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, UNFCCC’s Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell and UN Tourism Secretary – General, Zurab Pololikashvili.

Boosting Engagement and Accountability

Additionally, UN Tourism will promote two major sustainability initiatives during the thematic day:

The Glasgow Declaration Initiative, which encourages stakeholders to commit to climate action in tourism, focusing on five strategic pathways: measurement, decarbonization, regeneration, collaboration, and finance. Over 900 organizations have already joined, and further signatories are sought.

The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST), adopted by the UN Statistical Commission in February 2024, will also be highlighted. This tool helps measure tourism’s climate impact, providing trustworthy, country-specific data on greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, essential for improving the sector’s sustainability.

As COP29 continues, discussions will also explore a coordination mechanism led by UN Tourism, working with international and multilateral partners to ensure alignment with climate goals and advance a science-based agenda for a positive impact on tourism’s climate footprint.