Travel Foundation urges industry backing for climate action agenda 

A global action agenda for tourism’s climate transition by the end of the decade has been outlined by the Travel Foundation.

 

Four practical ideas feature in an effort to shift the sector towards a “more resilient and just” climate transition

 

The ‘Where Next?’ report is the result of a global consultation involving more than 100 tourism stakeholders across governments, businesses, academia and society. 

 

It sets the stage for a five-year programme to implement system-level change across the sector by 2030. 

 

The new report highlights how destinations face mounting costs, deteriorating assets and growing uncertainty from climate change, with many at risk of losing the very foundations their visitor economies depend on. 

 

The four connected initiatives that the Travel Foundation says can be built and scaled through collaboration:

1. Understand the risks - with a Destination Climate Risk Register. A shared, open-source system that translates climate science into decision-ready risk profiles for destinations, guiding investment, insurance, and policy where they are needed most.
2. Mobilise the money - through a Tourism Resilience Fund. A connected set of funds, backed by climate-aligned banks and corporate deposits, that channel fair, transparent finance into climate resilience for tourism-dependent communities.
3. Build the capacity - with a Tourism Transition Facility. A global support facility that helps destinations, SMEs, workers, and institutions to design and deliver just transition plans, turning risk data and finance into real-world change.
4. Require a fair deal for communities - with Equity-based KPIs and Standards. A Tourism Equity Index and core set of KPIs and standards to ensure all major tourism investments demonstrate community consent and deliver tangible local benefits, protecting tourism’s social licence to operate.

The Travel Foundation is inviting organisations to join as contributing partners in co-developing and delivering the action plan, including a portfolio of regional pilot schemes and partnerships.

 

The agenda will be presented on Thursday as part of the COP30 Climate Summit’s tourism thematic days in Belem, Brazil.

 

Travel Foundation chief executive Jeremy Sampson said: “The climate crisis is already reshaping tourism, the question is whether we react piecemeal or take deliberate, co-ordinated action. 

 

“This agenda is an invitation to build a more viable and fairer future for tourism, and the ideas are both ambitious and achievable. But we can’t do it alone: we need partners ready to lead.”