HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainable-Tourism-2030-Pledge-GuideWHAT IS THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 2030
PLEDGE?
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COMMITMENT 2: TAKING THE SELF-ASSESSMENT
3COMMITMENT 1: PUBLIC COMMITMENT
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Pledge Guide
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What is the Sustainable Tourism
2030 Pledge?
The Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge is a movement of individuals, businesses, and
organizations within the tourism and hospitality industry that believe tourism has a tremendous
opportunity to become a force for good. We believe that improving the social, cultural,
environmental, and economic performance of the tourism industry in support of the UN
Sustainable Development Goals and UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is not a
trend or a cause, but is essential to the long term health and well-being of this important sector
of the global economy.
Developed in Canada by GreenStep, the pledge was launched in June 2021 together with the
Tourism Industry Association of Canada to help tourism businesses and destinations measure
and improve their sustainability performance by simplifying the steps and creating a common
framework and benchmark for the industry. By offering best practices support and guidance,
free resources, tools, and templates, we break down the steps for tourism businesses and
destinations to incorporate sustainability into their operations in a simple, yet meaningful way.
The Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge is your commitment to improve the sustainability
performance of your tourism business or destination between now and 2030. By signing on to
the pledge, you commit to these two actions:
MA KE AND MAINT A IN A P UBLIC COMMITMENT TO IMPR OVE YOUR
SU STAIN A BILITY PERFO RMANCE.
1 .
MEASURE AND TRACK YOUR SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE EACH YEAR
BETWEEN NOW AND 2030 WITH OUR FREE ONLINE SELF-ASSESSMENT.
2 .
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Commitment 1
Make and maintain a public commitment to improve your sustainability
performance.
Below you will find an example of what your public commitment could look like. This should be
posted on your website, link back to www.sustainabletourism2030/pledge, and ideally highlight
what UN Sustainable Development Goals you will focus on. Best practice would be to create a
dedicated page for sustainability where you can provide updates on your sustainability
initiatives and report your progress towards your 2030 goals.
Your organization name and a link to your public commitment will be published on the
signatories page of the Sustainable Tourism 2030 website once your public commitment has
been verified by our team.
Measure our carbon footprint and find opportunities to reduce our emissions year over year
Support local entrepreneurs and the community by developing an improved sustainable
purchasing policy
Create a no-idle policy and provide information to visitors about carbon-friendly transportation
options
Conduct an accessibility audit on-site to ensure we meet the needs of all visitors
[Business Name] has signed the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge, to demonstrate our commitment to
improving the sustainability performance of our business between now and 2030.
The UN World Tourism Organization defines sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of
its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors,
the industry, the environment and host communities.”
Each year, we commit to measuring and improving our sustainability performance in the following
ways:
[input a few sustainability initiatives you might already be working on here, or use the self-assessment
and sustainability scorecard for ideas – some examples could include:
Example Public Commitment:
Feel free to personalize this public commitment as you see fit. You could include a quote about
why you are committing to becoming more sustainable, or any sustainability initiatives you are
already working on. We welcome you to create an account and access the Sustainable Tourism
Assessment to help guide the basis of your public commitment. You will have 12 months, after
becoming a pledge signatory to complete and submit the full assessment. You can visit our
signatories page to see more examples of public commitments from pledge signatories.
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For Tourism Businesses and Industry Associations:
GreenStep’s Sustainable Tourism criteria for tourism businesses are Global Sustainable Tourism
Council (GSTC) - Recognized. The criteria consist of 87 questions, which businesses can work
through at their own pace using our online self-assessment portal. For industry associations: we
recognize that you are different from tourism businesses, however, you can use the business
criteria to assess your own operations and wherever we refer to “guests” you can interchange
this with “members” or “stakeholders” to help assess to what extent you are encouraging
sustainability amongst your primary audience.
For Tourism Destinations: GreenStep’s Sustainable Tourism criteria for tourism destinations
are Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) - Recognized. The criteria consist of 117
questions, which destinations can work through at their own pace using our online self-
assessment portal.
For both businesses and destinations, responses can be saved, and once all questions have
been answered, you will be provided with a free sustainability scorecard that provides a
categorical breakdown of how well you are doing in aspects of management, social, cultural,
economic, and environmental sustainability.
How To Complete The Free Assessment:
1. Once you submit the pledge form and your public commitment has been verified, we’ll send
you login instructions via email.
2. Work through the criteria at your own pace and answer with the best available knowledge
that you have (For businesses and organizations, this can typically take between 30 minutes to one
hour to complete, and for destinations this can take between 1.5 - 2 hours). Note: Your assessment
must be completed within 12 months of your public commitment.
3. Receive your free sustainability scorecard! Once you have completed your assessment, use
the scorecard to make informed decisions about how to improve your sustainability.
Commitment 2
Measure and track your sustainability performance each year between now and
2030 with our free online self-assessment.
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Let's work together to change the world.
info@greenstep.ca
1-800-469-7830
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