Hello from Brussels, where I’m attending the city’s first climate week and IATA’s World Sustainability Symposium.
Wednesday puts travel and tourism in focus with Brussels Climate Week’s official side event, named Tourism in Transition, which promises a room filled with policymakers, local leaders and folks from the travel industry. Together, they will discuss decarbonization, competitiveness and resilience.
Kudos to Europe for saying that word — decarbonization — out loud. One thing I brought home from New York’s climate week was the de-emphasis of emissions reductions as place-based climate action gains momentum. Clear standards and methodologies have been established for carbon accounting and measurement, but no such things exist at scale for nature and community work.
The cynic in me wonders whether this shift in focus could actually be the next generation of greenwashing — especially as emissions-related claims have become more legally risky with the implementation of EmpCo late September. The International Sustainability Standards Board, run by IFRS, plans to release guidance on addressing the gap in guidance for nature-related claims. A draft is expected ahead of the latest biodiversity summit COP17, which gets started in Armenia October 19.
IATA’s events this week — the World Sustainability Symposium and the less climate-focused Wings of Change Europe — bring together aviation’s sustainability chiefs and the broader industry. The timing and location are notable, given the industry’s transition is heavily defined by the European Union’s SAF blending mandate. Many of aviation’s frustrations stem from Europe, too, given tightness in SAF supply, which is pushing up costs on top of already pricey fossil fuel-based jet fuel.
There are two schools of thought for tackling climate change, and clear splinter in the tourism industry itself: using regulation or markets. Emissions reductions are baked into law for countries, but net zero by 2050 isn’t achievable without buy-in from the private sector. And regardless of where in the world you are, what happens in Brussels sets the bar as execs tend to apply the most stringent regulation globally — even if they are unhappy while doing so.
Everyone I speak with in Europe is watching for one thing: the still-delayed EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy.
Are you in Brussels this week? Drop me a line if so, I’m always keen to exchange notes: [email protected].
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