Contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)

WSSD and tourism

The tourism industry is one of the world's largest, has shown sustained growth in revenues and number of travelers, and has a broad economic, social and environmental footprint reaching almost every part of the Earth.

Defined by a network of services offered to tourists and by the infrastructure needed to support it, the sector involves a wide range of players including private sector tourism businesses, governmental and intergovernmental organizations, development and conservation NGO networks, consumers, development intermediaries, and host communities.

The tourism industry has finally achieved global recognition as a major sector, but is struggling to cope with the corresponding ecological effects. Environmental and social accountability is not entirely defined by many industry players. UNEP has a key role to support governments and industry to foster effective programs focused on sustainability, using the World Summit on Sustainable Development as a milestone

UNEP's main contribution on tourism to the World Summit are the Industry Report on Tourism and the Private Sector meeting which took place during the Fourth Preparatory Committee (PrepCom IV) for the WSSD in Bali, June 2002.

To review the World Summit activities of UNEP DTIE click here

"Plan of Implementation" and sustainable tourism

The overriding theme of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg was to address some of the most pressing concerns of poverty and the environment. Commitments were made to increase access to clean water and proper sanitation, to increase access to energy services, to improve health conditions and agriculture and to better protect the world's biodiversity and ecosystems.

The major outcome document, the Plan of Implementation, contains targets and timetables to spur action on a wide range of issues including a commitment to reverse the trend of losses of biodiversity by 2010, and an important decision to cease destructive fishing practices and establish marine protected areas and networks by 2012.

While focusing on a wide range of issues, the Plan makes several references to sustainable tourism:

• Chapter 41 (PDF - 12 KB) of the Plan of Implementation promotes sustainable tourism development as a means to increase the benefits from tourism resources for the population in host communities while maintaining the cultural and environmental integrity of the host communities and enhancing the protection of ecologically sensitive areas and natural heritages.
  
  
• Chapter 64 (PDF - 12 KB) calls for support of Africa's efforts to attain sustainable tourism that contributes to social, economic and infrastructure development through a variety of measures.

Throughout the Plan references to sustainable tourism are made in relation to:

• Energy conservation and emissions control (Chapter 19)
  
  
• Biodiversity conservation (Chapter 42)
  
  
• Small Island Development States (Chapter 52)

This is the first time that sustainable tourism has been acknowledged at this level by the United Nations processes, and there is no doubt that the visibility of the 2002 International Year of Ecotourism (IYE).

Contribution to the World Summit:
- Industry Report
- Private Sector
- Other DTIE contributions