Glasgow’s events hub has become the first in the world to join a green scheme designed to tackle climate change.
The city’s convention bureau has signed up to Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, a voluntary initiative to align tourism and travel with the target of cutting global emissions in half by 2030.
With more than 200 members from across a range of sectors, the project aims to bring resources together to adapt and reimagine the travel industry for the post-Covid world.
Aileen Crawford, head of conventions at Glasgow Convention Bureau, said, “Glasgow is working towards becoming one of Europe’s most sustainable cities and a world-leading centre for sustainable policy, innovation and action.
“As the city gears up to host COP26, the UN Conference on Climate Change, the Convention Bureau is keen to do its bit. Signing up to Tourism Declares is an important step in our support of the city’s credentials as a world-leader in sustainable business tourism.
“We’re working closely with our partners to encourage more tourism businesses to develop their sustainability credentials and find out more about certification schemes like Green Tourism and Green Key, who offer a wide range of support to businesses.”
This announcement builds on the city’s position as the fourth most sustainable conference destination in the world and the only UK city to be included in the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS–Index), which ranks the green credentials of locations.
Prior to the pandemic, Glasgow hosted 20 energy, sustainability and low carbon industry-related conferences over a 24-month period; boosting the city’s economy by more than £23 million.
“We are delighted to welcome Glasgow Convention Bureau to Tourism Declares”, said Jeremy Smith, co-founder of Tourism Declares. “We need to engage all sectors of travel and tourism in climate action, and it is inspiring that GCB is the first such organisation in the world to declare, especially in the year that Glasgow will play host to the COP26 Climate Conference.
“We really hope this is the beginning of the Business Events and Conferences sector delivering the kind of commitments and transformative action of which it is uniquely capable, and we look forward to working with GCB to support such collaboration in Scotland over the coming months.”