The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a new frame of reference for the international community is designed to advance both sustainability and development. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets are at the core of the Agenda, but it is more than the sum of its individual goals. The 2030 Agenda is a decision to achieve a fundamental transformation of our world. Under the title „Transforming Tourism“, Tourism Watch – Bread for the World together with the Swiss Working Group Tourism & Development and TourCert brought out a new publication pointing out the challenges in the tourism sector. While the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) emphasizes the positive contributions tourism could possibly make to each of the SDGs, the authors of “Transforming Tourism” ask for more. They show that it is not “sustainable tourism” that is to be promoted, but sustainability in tourism – which requires fundamental socio-economic changes. One central goal is to achieve sustainable consumption and production patterns. The 2030 Agenda shows that both consumption and production need to be addressed simultaneously – and soon. 15 years are not a long time frame in which business as usual could, “for the meantime”, continue. The countries of the world need to implement the 2030 Agenda according to their respective challenges.
Further information:
Transforming Tourism. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Published by Bread for the World together with the Working Group Tourism & Development and TourCert. Berlin, 2016. Download: http://www.tourism-watch.de/files/2030_agenda_internet_en_0.pdf
Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals. Published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Madrid, 2016. Download: www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284417254
