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The global climate summit will take place in Glasgow this weekend. Words and deeds are still far apart, that is the general tenor in Dutch and international media. President Biden travels to Glasgow without a Climate Plan and the Netherlands is still not on track to achieve the climate goals for the coming years according to figures from the Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving (PBL) showed this week on the eve of the climate summit.
But we as a hospitality domain cannot ignore it either: the necessary sustainable transition of the domain. For this reason, CELTH has started the development of a Sustainability Research Agenda on behalf of the taskforce Gastvrijheidssector. It will be essential that the hospitality domain in the Netherlands proactively responds to all legislation and regulations that are intended to solve the climate crisis. And that is urgently needed! An example: if the climate law is strictly implemented, all leisure accommodations will have to halve their CO2 emissions within nine years. If not, half of the accommodations could close by 2030.
This week, a number of Dutch Destination Management Organizations sounded the alarm by calling for a Tourism Transformationfund of one billion euros. A nice initiative, it has managed to generate attention in some media and has led to a request for debate in the Dutch Parliament. But also a missed opportunity, both due to the lack of solid substantiation and a broad coalition of relevant stakeholders: the business community, governments, social organizations and knowledge and educational institutions.
A real transition of the domain requires strong support with transdisciplinary plans and coalitions. A Green Tourism Deal, with a clear direction, based on knowledge, good substantiation, and associated resources. This will only work if we as parties work together in a transdisciplinary way and if we know how to find the right entrances at policymakers in The Hague and Brussels. Shall we go together from now on?
