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Global tourism takes a climate-conscious turn as 50+ nations sign a UN pact at COP29 in Baku, pledging greener practices.
BAKU (Reuters) - More than 50 governments have signed a U.N. declaration to make tourism around the globe more climate friendly, the United Nations said on Wednesday, in what it hailed as a major achievement of the climate summit in Azerbaijan.
"At COP29 we have achieved today an historic milestone by being included in the UN Climate Change Conference Action Agenda for the first time," U.N. Executive Director for Tourism Zoritsa Urosevic told a news conference.
The global tourism industry accounts for 3% of global GDP and is the source of 8.8% of greenhouse emissions, said Urosevic.
The countries that signed the declaration on Enhanced Climate Action on Tourism have pledged to recognise the need to address tourism when drafting climate plans, such as their Nationally Determined Contributions. The next update of NDCs, in which governments describe policies to reduce emissions that cause global warming, are due in February.
Tourism often accounts for a large share of a government's hard currency revenues, particularly in emerging countries, and can itself be highly exposed to climate events such as hurricanes, heatwaves and droughts.
"We now understand that the future of our business depends on the sustainability of our actions today," said Kanan Gasimov, head of administration at Azerbaijan's tourism agency.
The declaration was accompanied by a number of other initiatives, such as a framework presented by hotel industry body World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, aimed at measuring and reporting data such as greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste and energy usage across the sector.
The collated data would help the tourism industry and travellers understand their impact, said CEO Glenn Mandziuk.
"We are an industry that has a vested interest in the protection of each destination," Mandziuk said on the sidelines of the meeting in Baku. "We have to have a conversation where we can play a bigger role."
The group represents 55,000 hotels totalling more than 7 million rooms and counts big names such as Accor, Hilton and Marriott among its members.
The U.S. economy faces a 40% risk of recession in the second half of 2025, JP Morgan analysts said on Wednesday, citing rising tariffs and stagflation concerns.
China has ramped up efforts to protect communities impacted by flood control measures, introducing stronger compensation policies and direct aid from the central government.
Severe rain in Venezuela has caused rivers to overflow and triggered landslides, sweeping away homes and collapsing a highway bridge, with five states affected and no casualties reported so far.
A malfunction in the radar transmission system at the Area Control Center in Milan suspended more than 300 flights at the weekend, across northwest Italy since Saturday evening according to Italy's air traffic controller Enav (National Agency for Flight Assistance).
Thousands of protesters rallied in Bangkok on Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resign as political and economic tensions mount.
Following a deadly glacier collapse in Blatten, near the Swiss Alpine village of Kandersteg, the town is on high alert as melting permafrost and shifting rock threaten another potential disaster after it was buried a month ago.
The Russian government has approved the creation of the Black Sea State Nature Biosphere Reserve, according to a decree published Sunday on the government’s official website. Black Sea Biosphere Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Ukraine which is now under Russian occupation.
Over a third of Tuvalu's population has applied for Australia's climate visa, as rising sea levels threaten to submerge the Pacific nation within decades.
Heatwaves gripping Europe have pushed temperatures above 40°C, fueling wildfires and triggering weather alerts across several countries.
Greek firefighters are battling a large wildfire south of Athens as the country faces its first major heat wave of the summer, with temperatures nearing 40°C and strong winds fuelling the flames.
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