West Sweden Tourist Board declares a climate emergency

The West Sweden Tourist Board has put sustainability from all perspectives at the core the business. Nothing is successful unless it is also sustainable.

Stepping up Sustainability is West Sweden’s joint initiative for sustainable tourism. Public and private operators acting together to shift towards a more sustainable society.

Together we create economically viable businesses and tourism that does not lead to unnecessary negative impact on the environment and is valued by both residents and visitors.

Success will be achieved through continuous improvements focusing on concrete initiatives. Nothing happens by itself. Achieving sustainable tourism needs management and we all have to play our part.

Stepping up Sustainability links directly to several of the 17 goals in Agenda 2030, with specific focus on goal 8 (objective 8.9), goal 12 (objective 12b) and goal 13 (objective 13.3).

Stepping up Sustainability is based on four key principles which will guide the choices we make when developing and marketing tourism in West Sweden. They are the directions we will follow when deciding where our time and money should be invested.

The four key principles for a sustainable tourism industry are:

  • As little unnecessary environmental impact as possible
  • Good for both residents and visitors
  • More visitors when and where places are not full
  • More full-time jobs and more resilient businesses

We have also joined destinations across the world to step up the region’s commitment to climate action by signing up to the Tourism Declares initiative.

When signing up we have committed to the following five actions:

  • We have developed a “Climate Action Plan” consisting of the initiative “Stepping up Sustainability”
  • We publicly declare our commitment and we share our “Climate Action Plan” and update our progress on this website.
  • We encourage both public and private actors in the tourism industry in West Sweden to join “Stepping up Sustainability”
  • We share good practices and actively participate in the Tourism Declares community.
  • We advocate for change: We recognize the need for a system change across the industry to accelerate a just transition to low-emission tourism.