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Glasgow Declaration

Communications Guidelines FOR SIGNATORIES

Become a Signatory of the Glasgow Declaration

Tourism stakeholders can now become signatories of the Glasgow Declaration.

(APPENDIX III to the signatory form)

Version: 20 October 2021

Welcome to the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism

 

Congratulations on becoming a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.

By joining the Glasgow Declaration, your organisation is stepping forward as a global leader working to      accelerate climate action in tourism and  supporting the global commitment to cut  emissions in half by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050     .

Beyond the primary objectives of the Glasgow Declaration, signatories are also expected to:

  • Lead by exampledriving action, sharing knowledge, and catalysing collaborative action throughout the sector.
  • Raise awareness about the urgency for the tourism sector to take action and play its role as an agent of change.

Through these Communications Guidelines, we aim to provide signatories with recommendations and templates to announce their involvement in the Glasgow Declaration. 

Announcing your involvement

 

As outlined in the Terms and Conditions included in the Signatory Form, your organisation may now      refer to your status of signatory using the following sentence:

“We are a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.”

We strongly encourage your organisation to visibly demonstrate support by prominently displaying      the logo of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. Please check the section “Logo” on page 8 for further guidance.

In addition, we encourage all signatories to announce their involvement in the Glasgow Declaration      through their own communication channels, including:

  • Website: creating a dedicated page or adding information to an existing page (see further guidance on page 9)
  • Newsletter: informing customers and key stakeholders via a newsletter or email marketing (see further guidance on page 9)
  • Media release: distributing a      media release     via the organisation’s communications/PR team. Template is available for customisation (see further guidance on page 10)
  • Social media platforms: sharing the announcement via social media channels (see further guidance on page 12)

Signatories should be mindful of the content of these Guidelines when drafting any communication pieces. The Coordination Team of the Glasgow Declaration remains at your disposal to support you in developing or reviewing communications materials and messages. Please email:

  •  Svitlana Mikhalyeva (svitlana.mikhalyeva@un.org)
  • Virginia Fernández-Trapa (vftrapa@unwto.org)
  • Ben Lynam (ben.lynam@thetravelfoundation.org.uk)

 

For the development of joint communication pieces, signatories are kindly requested to contact the Coordinating Team at least three weeks prior to the planned date of release.

The intent of the Glasgow Declaration is to urge and enable all travel and tourism stakeholders to sign and demonstrate, for the first time as a united sector, a shared voice and commitment to aligning the sector’s climate ambitions with scientific recommendations and international agreements.

The Glasgow Declaration aims to unite everyone in the tourism sector around a common set of pathways for climate action, by:

  • defining a clear and consistent sector-wide message and approach to climate action in the coming decade, aligned with the wider scientific framework and urgency to act now;
  • outlining the pathways and specific actions that will accelerate tourism’s ability to transform tourism and achieve Net Zero as soon as possible;
  • encouraging signatories across all sectors of tourism to demonstrate their public support for scaling up the sector’s response to the climate emergency.

By becoming signatories, organisations commit to:

  • Support the global commitment to halve emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050;
  • Deliver climate action plans within 12 months from becoming a signatory (or updating existing plans), and begin implementing them;
  • Align their plans with the five pathways of the Declaration (Measure, Decarbonise, Regenerate, Collaborate, Finance) to accelerate and co-ordinate climate action in tourism;
  • Report publicly on an annual basis on progress against interim and long-term targets, as well as on actions being taken;
  • Work in a collaborative spirit, sharing good practices and solutions, and disseminating information to encourage additional organisations to become signatories and supporting one another to reach targets as quickly as possible.

Measure: Measure and disclose all travel and tourism-related emissions.

Decarbonise: Set and deliver science-based targets to accelerate tourism’s decarbonisation.

Regenerate: Restore and protect ecosystems, supporting nature’s ability to draw down carbon, as well as safeguarding biodiversity, food security, and water supply.

Collaborate: Share evidence of risks and solutions with all stakeholders and our guests, and work together to ensure our plans are as effective and co-ordinated as possible.

Finance: Ensure organisational resources and capacity are sufficient to meet objectives set out in climate plans.

The detailed pathways are available in the Glasgow Declaration full text.

The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism brings together the latest research and global expertise to galvanise climate action. It is hosted within the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme’s website, and includes Recommended Actions for tourism stakeholders across the world to consider as part of their action planning, alongside other resources.

The implementation of the Glasgow Declaration is led by the UNWTO in collaboration with the Travel Foundation and Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, within the framework of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme.

The Glasgow Declaration will support companies, destinations (national, sub-national (regional) and local governments, as well as destination management organisations), associations, and NGOs through:  

  • sharing information about climate action initiatives and approaches;
  • facilitating cooperation between governments, local organisations, and businesses;
  • consolidating the progress reported by all signatoriesand identifying ongoing challenges to be addressed;
  • publicly communicating the actions taken by signatories and showcasing the leadership of the sector.

In order to have more information, please refer to APPENDIX II of signatory form, Operating Guidelines drafted in the format of FAQs available here.

The Glasgow Declaration was drafted by UNWTO, UNEP, Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, The Travel Foundation and VisitScotland. The text of the Glasgow Declaration wasfurther developed and improved in consultation with a diverse range of travel and tourism stakeholders, including private sector actors, international organisations, NGOs and academia. These stakeholders provided feedback on the Declaration, which was then reviewed by the drafting committee.

The Glasgow Declaration aims to act as a catalyst for increased urgency across travel and tourism about the need to accelerate climate action during COVID-19 recovery and beyond. The tourism sector is highly vulnerable to climate change and at the same time contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), which cause global warming. Accelerating climate action in tourism is therefore of utmost importance for the resilience of the sector. Climate action is understood as the efforts to measure and reduce GHG emissions and strengthen adaptive capacity to climate induced impacts.[1]

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a 7% reduction of GHG emissions globally in 2020[2], providing a tangible reference to the magnitude of the effort still ahead in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, which will require around 7% reduction of emissions on an annual basis throughout the next decade.[3]

According to UNWTO/ITF latest research, released in December 2019 at UNFCCC COP25, CO2 emissions from tourism are forecasted to increase by 25% by 2030 from 2016 levels, against the current ambition scenario. Therefore, the need to scale up climate action in tourism remains urgent as emissions could rapidly rebound once operations restart and, ultimately, the cost of inaction with regards to climate will be in the long run larger than the cost of any other crisis.

For a responsible recovery of the tourism sector from COVID-19 while accelerating progress towards low carbon tourism development and the contribution of the sector to international climate goals, please check:

Logo

 

As outlined in the Terms and Conditions included with the Signatory form, your organisation is now able      to display the logo of the Glasgow Declaration on your communications channels and alongside any      statement announcing your signatory status (see section on announcing your Involvement).

Please remember that all logo use must be in accordance with these guidelines. Your organisation should not use the Glasgow Declaration logo for any other purposes.

The logo files will be sent upon the approval of signatories.

Brand colours

alt

Red    Green    Blue        HEX

50      111        178         #326FB2

alt

Red    Green    Blue        HEX

107    195        94           #6BC35D

alt

Red    Green    Blue        HEX

51       197        224         #33C5E0

 

alt

Red    Green    Blue        HEX

108     107       113         #6C6B71

Communication materials

 

Website and Newsletter

Signatories are strongly encouraged to promote their alignment with the Glasgow Declaration and related climate action commitments on their organisation’s website and in their newsletter, email, or social media communications to customers and stakeholders.

Organisations can use the following text:

<Organisation name> is proud to be a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.

As a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration, we commit to deliver plans aligned with the pathways to cut tourism emissions in half over the next decade and reach Net Zero emissions as soon as possible before 2050.

               <Organisation Name> commits to:

  • Support the global commitment to halve emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050;
  • Deliver climate action plans within 12 months from becoming a signatory (or updating existing plans), and begin implementing them;
  • Align plans with the five pathways of the Declaration (Measure, Decarbonise, Regenerate, Collaborate, Finance) to accelerate and co-ordinate climate action in tourism;
  • Report publicly on an annual basis on progress against interim and long-term targets, as well as on actions being taken;
  • Work in a collaborative spirit, sharing good practices and solutions, and disseminating information to encourage additional organisations to become signatories and supporting one another to reach targets as quickly as possible.

Template Media Release

<ORGANISATION > ALIGNS WITH OTHER SECTOR LEADERS TO SIGNS      THE GLASGOW DECLARATION ON CLIMATE ACTION IN TOURISM

(Date: xx xx 20XX) - <Organisation> announced today that it has become a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.

The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism unites travel and tourism behind a common set of pathways for climate action, aligning the sector with global commitments and catalysing collaborative solutions to the many challenges facing businesses and destinations globally. The Glasgow Declaration encourages the acceleration of climate action in tourism by securing commitments to reduce emissions in tourism by at least 50% over the next decade and achieve Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.

The Declaration will be officially launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021. The information about the launch event is available here.

As a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, <Organisation> has committed to aligning its actions with the latest scientific recommendations, so as to ensure its approach remains consistent with a rise of no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. It also has agreed to deliver or update climate action plans within 12 months, align plans with the five pathways of the Declaration (Measure, Decarbonise, Regenerate, Collaborate, Finance), report publicly on an annual basis, and work in a collaborative spirit, sharing good practices and solutions, and disseminating information.

                                   

<Quote from Organisation>

 The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism brings together the latest research and global expertise to galvanise climate action. It will be hosted within the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme’s website, supported by Recommended Actions for tourism stakeholders across the world to consider as part of their action planning, alongside other resources.

As the declaration states: “A just transition to Net Zero before 2050 will only be possible if tourism’s recovery accelerates the adoption of sustainable consumption and production, and redefines our future success to consider not only economic value but rather the regeneration of ecosystems, biodiversity and communities.”

The need for a globally consistent approach for climate action in tourism has been made clear, notably through research into CO2 emissions carried out by UNWTO/ITF  and released at the UNFCCC COP25 in December 2019. This showed that transport-related emissions from tourism were forecast to increase by 25% by 2030 from 2016 levels, against the current ambition scenario.

In 2020, the One Planet Vision for a responsible recovery of the tourism sector was adopted with the aim of emerging from the COVID-19 crisis both stronger and more sustainable. Climate action is a central element of the Vision, which calls for monitoring and reporting CO2 emissions from tourism, promoting the introduction of science-based targets, accelerating the decarbonisation of tourism operations, and engaging the tourism sector in carbon removal.

About the One Planet network Sustainable Tourism Programme

The One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme has the overall objective to enhance the sustainable development impacts of the tourism sector by 2030, by developing, promoting and scaling up sustainable consumption and production practices that boost the efficient use of natural resources while producing less waste and addressing the challenges of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution. The Sustainable Tourism Programme is part of the One Planet network, a multi-stakeholder partnership to implement SDG 12 on Sustainable Consumption and Production.

https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/programmes/sustainable-tourism

 

- ENDS - 

 

Media contact: 

<name>, <mobile>, <email>  

Upon submitting your form, it will take two weeks to receive acknowledgement regarding your submission and the status of your application.