• 50+ leading climate & tourism experts to provide assessments to help shape global action
  • TPCC to be unveiled for COP27 later this year

RIYADH: To mark Earth Day, the Sustainable Tourism Global Center (STGC) has today announced the Tourism Panel on Climate Change (TPCC), a new tourism and climate science assessment and measurement initiative, modeled on the IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – to advance climate resilient tourism.

In announcing the TPCC on Earth Day, the STGC – established to make tourism part of the solution to climate change while leading, accelerating, and tracking the tourism industry’s transition to net zero emissions – aims to demonstrate the important role of the travel and tourism sector in contributing to better human development, and the imperative of responding positively to the existential climate crisis we face.

Announced by His Royal Highness Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia at the Saudi Green Initiative and at COP26 in Glasgow last year, the STGC has invited founding members including governments, international organizations, academia, multilateral and financing institutions and industry associations. The STGC aims to reduce the tourism sector’s estimated 8% contribution to total global greenhouse gases and move towards net zero emissions. A crucial step in this is to re-assess the impact of the sector so that we have accurate science-based benchmarks against which to track progress and drive critical climate and environment action.

The TPCC – a neutral body of more than 50 tourism climate scientists and experts will provide a current state assessment of the sector and objective metrics to public and private sector decisionmakers worldwide. It will produce regular assessments that systematically review, analyze, and distill climate change related data and reports, in the context of tourism’s transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions. It will also consider both adaptation and mitigation issues.  

The TPCC will ensure that its outputs are:

  • Scientifically objective, balanced and peer reviewed
  • Considering regional characteristics
  • Inclusive: particularly LDC and Small Island States, which are most at risk
  • Synchronized with the delivery cycles of the IPCC

The TPCC will align itself to the UNFCCC COP programs, starting with COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt this November where it will present its Initial Framework, and plans to release its First Assessment in November 2023 during COP28 in the United Arab Emirates.

The TPCC will be led by well-respected professors – Daniel Scott, University of Waterloo, Canada and Susanne Becken, Griffith University, Australia, and managed by Professor Geoffrey Lipman, STGC Envoy and former Assistant Secretary General UNWTO, former President WTTC and former Executive Director IATA.

The TPCC will further consist of 20 lead experts and 30 contributing experts from universities across the globe, and supported by several members including an Advisory Group formed by Harry Theoharis (Former Minister of Tourism for Greece), Isabel Hill (Former Director of National Travel and Tourism Office, United States of America), Christoph Wolff (Former Head of Mobility, World Economic Forum), and Dr Ramon Sanchez (Principal Investigator and Research Associate, Harvard University).

His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: “The launch of the STGC by HRH the Crown Prince during the Saudi Green Initiative, alongside a number of initiatives in the fields of energy, climate and environmental protection, is testament to the Kingdom’s commitment to leading climate action across multiple sectors. As one of the largest employers and sources of revenue generation for many countries, especially developing countries, the tourism industry has a pivotal role to play in economic diversification efforts, both within Saudi Arabia and beyond. As referred to within the Paris Agreement, economic diversification is important in enabling mitigation and adaptation action and sustainable energy transitions, with the tourism sector having a fundamental role to play in net zero transitions. I regard the establishment of the TPCC and its esteemed collection of experts as a key landmark in efforts towards understanding the climate-tourism interface and mainstreaming innovative energy solutions in the tourism sector.”

 His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: “Saudi Arabia is taking clear and decisive action to lead and promote action on the global tourism sector’s transition to net zero. Core to this is the provision of objective metrics against which we can monitor our progress. I am pleased to see the STGC is convening global tourism climate experts from across the globe to protect our sector’s future – and the millions of livelihoods which depend on it.”

Her Excellency Gloria Guevara, Chief Special Advisor, Ministry of Tourism, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: “The TPCC is the first major milestone for the STGC. Our aim is to educate, inform and encourage all stakeholders to take urgent action to address the pressing challenges we face as a result of climate change. By providing an overview of the current state of the sector, the TPCC will produce a vital scientific benchmark against which we can measure progress. I am confident that this will make a valuable contribution to the Center’s mission to make tourism part of the solution while leading, tracking, and accelerating the sector’s transition to net zero.”

Professor Daniel Scott, University of Waterloo: “The climate crisis demands a whole-of-society response. The visionary leadership of the STGC has provided the much-needed catalyst to bring together global tourism leaders and the scientific community to advance climate resilient tourism development worldwide. The tourism sector has embraced science-based emission targets and this initiative will deliver vital data and research to accelerate the transformation of tourism to the net-zero economy of the future. Having worked as a climate change scientist for over 20 years, I am thrilled to be part of this bold commitment to tourism’s decisive decade on climate action.”

Professor Susanne Becken, Griffith University: “What we know from the science, is the gate is closing on the pathways to save humanity from the catastrophic events caused by climate change. Tourism is a key player in advancing climate resilient development, and connecting the best knowledge we have with tourism policy and action is not only an amazing opportunity but the only way forward. Ultimately, every fraction of a degree warming saved, will help save lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems.”

Professor Geoffrey Lipman, STGC Envoy: “TPCC can provide the clear metrics for tourism that are urgently needed, on which real action must be taken, to play our part in the global response to the existential Climate Crisis. Modelling ourselves on well established approaches of peer reviewed research, top quality, expert studies and evolving global, regional and national targets, TPCC will deliver timely objective science based Assessments, that inform and enhance decision-making, in sync with UNFCCC COP programs. As the UN Secretary General has warned “The Climate Crisis is a Code Red Emergency for humanity”. To play its part in the response, Tourism Stakeholders need to act, based on the best objective assessment of the impacts and challenges – that is what TPCC will provide.”

-Ends- 

The Sustainable Tourism Global Center

The Sustainable Tourism Global Center (STGC) is the world’s first multi-country, multi-stakeholder global coalition that will lead, accelerate, and track the tourism industry’s transition to net-zero emissions, as well as drive action to protect nature and support communities. It will enable the transition while delivering knowledge, tools, financing mechanisms and innovation stimulation into the tourism sector.

The STGC was announced by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during the Saudi Green Initiative in October 2021 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia then led a panel discussion during COP26 (November 2021) in Glasgow, United Kingdom, to elaborate on how the Center will deliver on its mandate with founding country representatives and experts from partner international organizations. The countries invited in phase one are UK, USA, France, Japan, Germany, Kenya, Jamaica, Morocco, Spain, and Saudi Arabia. These countries have prioritized climate, tourism, and SMEs.

In addition to national governments, the top organizations already helping to shape the Center and provide the services in phase one are UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council), World Bank, SYSTEMIQ and WRI (World Resource Institute). Harvard University has also been invited to provide support to the STGC through research and capacity-building.

The TPCC Executive will consist of:

  • Professor Geoffrey Lipman, Envoy for STGC; former Assistant Secretary General UNWTO, President WTTC & Executive Director IATA; President SUNx Malta; Co-author of books on Green Growth & Travelism & EIU Studies on Air Transport
  • Professor Daniel Scott, Chair in Climate & Society, University of Waterloo (Canada); Contributing author and reviewer IPCC Third, Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports

Professor Susanne Becken, Professor of Sustainable Tourism at Griffith University (Australia), Winner of UNWTO’s Ulysses Prize; Contributing author to the Fourth and Fifth IPCC Assessment Reports