The Glasgow Declaration

Ladies and gentlemen,                  

Dear all,

Thank you so much for inviting me.

I want to extend my gratitude to The World Tourism Organization for organizing this important event.

Climate change is a global threat that affects all of us.
The travel industry is responsible for CO2-emissions through transport, construction, use of natural resources, agriculture, food production, and much more. 

We have to accelerate climate action in the tourist industry.

Therefore Norway strongly supports the Glasgow Declaration and its urgent call for change.  

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Norway welcomes tourists from all over the world to experience and explore all that we have to offer.

From lutefisk and base jumping to hiking and watching the Northern Lights.  

But the development of our tourism must be based on climate- friendly and sustainable principles.

Last spring the "National strategy for tourism" was launched in Norway.

It was developed by the Norwegian travel industry and Innovation Norway, the government’s instrument for innovation and value creation in Norwegian industries.

The headline of the strategy is “Big Impact, Small Footprint”.

The strategy addresses the need for climate action as the travel industry is again opening up for visitors, post-COVID.

The Norwegian travel strategy has a defined climate goal, and has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.   

The strategy aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Glasgow Declaration.   

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According to UNWTO, transport accounts for 75 per cent of tourism's total greenhouse gas emissions.

We need more knowledge about the effects that the various measures to cut emissions will have.  

Therefore Innovation Norway has developed a climate calculator named “CO2rism”.  

The main purpose of this tool is to estimate the CO2 emissions related to transport in different markets.  

We need to join forces to achieve common goals, and we are happy to share our tools and knowledge.

We firmly believe that global cooperation is the best way forward to reduce emissions from tourism.

We are happy to be a signatory to the Glasgow Declaration.

And we urge all other countries to sign up, in order to accelerate climate action in tourism.

Thank you for your attention.

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