Goal 13: climate action
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
By Eke Eijgelaar and Paul Peeters, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport
ABSTRACT: Tourism is very much connected to Goal 13, being both affected by the impacts of climate change as well as contributing to it through its greenhouse gas emissions. The key challenge for tourism and Goal 13 is to find a balance with its contribution to many other SDGs. Industry emphasis on Goals 8,12 and 14 will very much endanger any positive contribution to Goal 13. A continuation of past rhetoric that tourism creates jobs and should not be hindered would lead to a huge rise in greenhouse gas emissions and consequently an increase of climate change impacts, also on tourism destinations. As these impacts are most heavily felt by many of the world’s poorest people, they endanger the achievement of many other SDGs.