The Tourism Sector on the COP Agenda

At the root of this situation lies the multi-layered structure of the sector. Tourism-related emissions do not fall under a single category. Aviation is accounted for under transport, hotels under buildings, restaurants under food systems, and tourism infrastructure investments under construction. The distribution of tourism’s impacts across different categories in national inventories has made it difficult to assess the sector’s overall climate burden in a comprehensive manner. As a result, the sector’s visibility and representation in climate negotiations have strengthened only gradually over time.

Another challenge is that a significant share of the global tourism economy consists of small businesses. Family-run guesthouses, tour operators, restaurants and local producers cannot always easily organize around a common commitment. While powerful segments such as aviation are represented through their own international mechanisms, the voices of destinations can remain relatively weak. Strengthening those voices is also difficult without adequate measurement infrastructure. After all, a sector that cannot calculate its emissions cannot set credible reduction targets or make a strong case for climate finance. This picture, however, has changed rapidly, and tourism has become an integral part of the climate agenda. So how did this transition unfold?

For more information on why COP conferences matter, take a look at this article.

A major turning point came in 2021. Launched at COP26, the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism called on its signatories to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero no later than 2050. Today, more than 850 destinations, businesses and organizations are part of this framework. The Declaration’s most significant contribution was its requirement for each signatory to develop a concrete climate action plan. For the first time, the sector gained a shared language for measurement and reporting.

COP29 Baku brought this momentum into the official agenda. For the first time in COP history, a thematic day was dedicated specifically to tourism, alongside the launch of the Declaration on Enhanced Climate Action in Tourism. The declaration calls on countries to integrate tourism into their national climate commitments. At COP30 in Belém, tourism’s thematic presence expanded to two days, while the discussion increasingly shifted from commitments to implementation. Tourism’s growing prominence reflects the broader direction of climate diplomacy. Conferences are increasingly focused not on making new promises, but on determining how existing commitments can be translated into action. In this new phase, sectors capable of delivering measurable results are gaining a stronger voice.

What makes tourism particularly important in this debate is that it stands on both sides of the climate equation. According to a 2024 study published in Nature Communications, tourism’s carbon footprint has reached 8.8% of global emissions and grew twice as fast as the global economy between 2009 and 2019. Despite improvements in efficiency technologies, rising demand continues to outpace these gains. This demonstrates that aligning tourism growth with climate targets will not happen automatically.

At the same time, tourism is among the sectors experiencing climate risks most directly. The Mediterranean basin is warming faster than the global average. Longer heatwaves are reducing the appeal of the traditional summer season. Water stress is increasing competition between hotels and agriculture for the same resources. Wildfires can damage a destination’s image within days. Ski resorts are losing snow reliability, while coastal tourism facilities must increasingly account for sea-level rise.

In regions heavily dependent on tourism revenues, the cost of these risks extends far beyond individual business balance sheets. Local employment, small businesses and public revenues all share the same vulnerability.

Tourism’s real test at the COP negotiating table can perhaps be seen most clearly in the area of climate finance. The new collective climate finance goal agreed at COP29 calls for developed countries to take the lead in mobilizing at least USD 300 billion annually by 2035. Yet the project pipelines needed to channel these resources into tourism remain insufficient.

Small businesses often have limited capacity to conduct feasibility studies, generate the necessary data and manage lengthy application processes. Adaptation investments can also be difficult to finance through commercial lending because many do not generate direct financial returns. Grants, guarantee mechanisms and risk-sharing by development banks will therefore play a decisive role. Joint project portfolios developed at the destination level could also open the door to sources of finance that individual businesses would otherwise struggle to access.

The just transition dimension has its own particular characteristics in tourism. Employment in the sector is largely seasonal and relies heavily on women and young people. If the costs of the transition are not managed carefully, they risk falling disproportionately on the most vulnerable workers. Skills development programmes, stronger local supply chains and income diversification should therefore form an integral part of tourism climate action plans.

For more information about the just transition, take a look at this article.

COP31 will take place in Antalya from 9-20 November 2026. For the first time, the conference will be held in a city whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism. Türkiye welcomed more than 62 million visitors in 2024 and generated over USD 61 billion in tourism revenue. Antalya stands at the heart of this tourism activity. At the same time, it is among the regions most exposed to extreme summer temperatures, water stress, wildfire risk and mounting pressure on infrastructure.

The symbolic significance of this gathering is considerable, but its practical implications matter even more. Adaptation, finance, and loss and damage-the issues debated in negotiation rooms-are also part of the everyday reality of the city hosting the conference. Delegates will not only hear about carrying capacity, energy demand and water management as abstract concepts; they will be surrounded by a destination where these challenges are already playing out. This proximity offers an opportunity to move the tourism and climate debate from theory into practice. Solutions developed and demonstrated in Antalya could also provide valuable reference points for other Mediterranean destinations facing similar pressures.

You can also read our article, COP31 Antalya: Why It Is a Critical Summit for Türkiye.

For Türkiye, the opportunity goes far beyond successfully hosting an international conference. The country’s most valuable contribution could be to present concrete models demonstrating how climate action in tourism can be measured, implemented and scaled. Energy efficiency assessments in accommodation facilities, destination-level data infrastructure, carrying capacity studies and initiatives that strengthen links with local economies can all form the building blocks of such a portfolio. The examples presented at COP31 will leave a lasting impact to the extent that they can be replicated and adapted in other regions.

For more information about destination management, click here.

One strong response to this need from Türkiye is the SENTRUM project. Implemented by Enerjisa Enerji in cooperation with UNDP, Sabancı University and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, SENTRUM brings together energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate adaptation and local development within a single framework. Aligned with the criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, the model works through measurable steps ranging from climate risk assessments to visitor carrying capacity analyses. This is precisely where SENTRUM gains relevance in the context of climate negotiations: the project provides an important example of how the practical and scalable models called for in negotiation texts can be translated into action on the ground.

For more information about the project and green destinations, visit this page.

Tourism may have entered the COP agenda relatively late, but its prominence has grown rapidly. What happens next will depend on the sector’s ability to translate this visibility into tangible results. The most meaningful legacy of Antalya in November 2026 will not only be the commitments announced during the conference, but also the models that continue to function on the ground long after the summit ends. Destinations that measure their resource use, manage climate risks and retain the value they generate within their local economies will be among those best positioned for the future.

Tourism’s climate test will not be measured by record-breaking visitor numbers or peak seasons. The sector’s long-term resilience will depend on its ability to withstand the impacts of climate change while protecting the places, resources and communities on which tourism itself depends.