Baku : For the first time in the history of the summit, COP29 featured a Tourism Day, with a First Ministerial Meeting dedicated to positioning tourism policy to support national climate goals.

In Baku, public and private sector leaders recognised the significant impact of climate change on the tourism sector and its contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

At the same time, they emphasised tourism's potential to actively foster climate adaptation and regeneration strategies. Over 700 stakeholders participated in the Tourism Day events.

Climate action in tourism

The First Ministerial was chaired by Fuad Naghiyev, Chairman of State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and included the COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan, UN Tourism, UNEP and UNFCCC.

Both UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, and UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, underlined the need for a science-based approach, referring to advanced new research to be further adapted from the University of Queensland (an Affiliate Member of UN Tourism) indicating that tourism represents 8.8 per cent of global emissions (including direct and indirect emissions).

The Ministerial welcomed ten Ministers of Tourism: Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Belarus, Czech Republic, Iran, Montenegro, North Macedonia; and Environment: Costa Rica and Maldives, five Deputy Ministers (Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Türkiye, Uzbekistan) and the Special Envoy for the Climate Heritage Network and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Secretaries of State from Moldova, Portugal, Zambia and Zimbabwe and delegates from Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and United States of America were also present.

On the back of the high-level discussions, 52 governments signed the COP29 Declaration for Enhanced Climate Action in Tourism.

The High-Level Roundtables brought together experts from academia, policymakers and private sector to raise the climate ambition of the tourism sector.

Climate-resilient tourism development

With the aim of laying the foundations for a global coordination mechanism and partnership platform, UN Tourism and the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan signed the Letter of Intent to create a framework for its establishment.

The partnership will ensure the continuation of the process to COP30 in Belem, Brazil in 2025, and building on COP28-as well as to support the transformation of the tourism sector so it can be part of a low-carbon, sustainable and resilient future.