Dr Konrad Mizzi, Malta?s tourism minister (pictured with ex-Manchester United footballer Wes Brown), called for a global transformation to climate-friendly travel to respond to the challenge of climate change.
At WTM, he led a Strong Universal Network (SUNx) stakeholder forum on green travel with industry, government and NGO participants, following a similar event in the European Parliament in July.
Dr Mizzi said that it was time to take a clear new strategic approach to the practical realities of the climate crisis ? changing patterns of hurricanes, wild-fires, sea level rises and migration that are intersecting with tourism flows all over the world. For this reason, Malta teamed up with SUNx to create a new global focal point for climate-friendly Travel and a basis for the sector to meet its Paris Agreement obligations.
?The incredible growth and development contribution of Tourism over the past half century is widely recognised ? nowhere more than in Malta a small island European country with more than 15% of our economy driven by the sector. But we know that traditional weather patterns are changing, and we must prepare for a different future,? he told delegates.
Dr Mizzi said that the next step will be the launch in Malta of a new global Registry of Climate Friendly Travel Ambitions early next year to encourage all industry stakeholders to file their 2050 Climate Neutral trajectories: ?It doesn?t matter how we get there, from our different positions today ? by 2050, we all have to be on a climate neutral platform. We have to start his now so that the next generation can have a reasonable opportunity for decent lives, with tourism as a preferred lifestyle and vital economic driver.?
