Klimaneutralität anpacken

Climate Action in Tourism: Key Challenges

Tourism is both affected by and a contributor to climate change, which means it also holds significant potential to drive climate action. Making tourism climate-compatible requires coordinated efforts from all stakeholders across destinations and businesses. However, concrete climate targets aligned with national and international frameworks are still rarely adopted by DMOs and tourism businesses, and operational implementation of climate action remains limited.

At the same time, demand for environmentally and socially responsible travel continues to grow. Yet clear and reliable labelling of such offers is often lacking. There is still considerable uncertainty around how to assess and communicate what truly constitutes a climate-friendly offer, both from the demand and supply side.

With the project “Advancing Climate Neutrality”, we aim to support the tourism sector in making its own contribution to the transition towards climate neutrality and to provide initial impulses for developing climate-friendly tourism products.

The Goal: Supporting the Sector’s Transition to Climate Neutrality

Effective climate action in a destination can only succeed if all tourism stakeholders along the value chain work together and implement reduction measures collectively. This project addresses both destination and business levels, helping the tourism sector actively contribute to the transition towards climate neutrality while fostering the development of climate-friendly offerings.

Wanderer läuft auf Weg in grüner Landschaft

The Method: Science Based Targets

The internationally recognised Science Based Targets (SBTs) approach enables companies to define climate targets that contribute meaningfully to achieving the 1.5°C goal. These are scientifically grounded targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, based on the remaining global carbon budget.

Every company shares responsibility for reducing global emissions through a top-down approach. SBTs distinguish between medium-term targets (5–10 years) and long-term targets (individually defined, up to 2050). Companies may set both, but not long-term targets alone. The concept is driven by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

But how can this approach be applied in tourism?

Step by Step

The SBTi Approach in 5 Steps

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Digital sector survey

An online survey among tourism destinations and businesses in Germany helps assess the current status, needs, and challenges of the sector. The findings inform practical checklists and action strategies to support the application of SBTs in tourism.

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Appointing a sustainability officer

Each organisation designates a sustainability officer, trained by TourCert through the interactive e-learning course “Travel for Tomorrow Basic.” This person coordinates the qualification process. The course consists of four practical modules, takes around three hours to complete, and concludes with a final quiz.

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Checklist and self-assessment

The TourCert Self-Check provides a comprehensive tool for evaluating, implementing, and improving sustainability performance. The tailored questionnaire covers all criteria aligned with the sustainability guidelines adopted in the first step and helps identify strengths and areas for improvement.

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Improvement Measures

Based on the baseline assessment from the previous step, you can now identify areas for improvement and define concrete measures. At least three improvement actions must be submitted to TourCert. These are to be reviewed, updated, and expanded on an annual basis.

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Review and Recognition

Following a successful desktop review, you will receive the TourCert Qualified certificate along with access to communication materials such as the TourCert Qualified logo and text templates to support effective communication of your achievement. You will then be admitted to the TourCert community and listed as a certified company in the public register on the TourCert website.

Key Insights: Complex, Yet Directional

Applicability of SBTs: SBTs can provide valuable guidance at a time when “climate neutrality” is often used as a marketing slogan. However, their application in tourism is still limited.
Target-setting under the SBT approach: The targets are highly abstract and global, requiring further translation into actionable frameworks at destination level.
Destination-specific targets: It is essential to adapt and break down global targets to reflect the specific context of each destination.
Next steps: Testing target-setting approaches and translating them into concrete measures. This requires assessing the impact of measures in terms of greenhouse gas reduction potential. Currently, there are no established methodologies for this in tourism.