GREEN TRANSPORT103emissions reductions is with sustainable biofuels.Sustainable biofuels made from jatropha, camelina oralgae have the potential to reduce aviation's carbonfootprint by up to 80 per cent. In 2007 this was adream. Today sustainable biofuels are a tested realitywith certification expected in a matter of months. Thechallenge will be commercialisation. Airlines now use66 billion gallons of fuel per year. By 2020 we want six per cent of this to be sustainable biofuels.Governments must now set the legal and fiscalframework to make it happen.A ROLE MODEL WITH TARGETSA strategy can not deliver long-term results withouttargets. The aviation industry took the bold step to setthree sequential targets on climate change. We haveagreed to:improve fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5 per centannually to 2020;cap net emissions from 2020 with carbon-neutralgrowth, andcut our net emissions in half by 2050 compared to 2005. No other industrial sector has set similar global targets. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hascommended the aviation industry as a role model forother industries.GOVERNMENTSThe responsibility for dealing with aviation'sinternational emissions rests with the InternationalCivil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in co-ordinationwith the United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCC). Unlike other industries,aviation pollutes across borders and over the high seas.It can only be managed with a global approach. Thiswas determined in the Kyoto protocol and confirmedby Christiana Figueres, Executive Director of theUNFCCC. On 8 October 2010, ICAO achieved anhistoric resolution. Its 190 member states agreed tothe first global governmental framework for theemission of an industrial sector. ICAO's 190 memberstates agreed that the industry should improve fuelefficiency by two per cent annually to 2050 and todevelop a global framework for economic measures. Italso achieved agreement on the industry's target ofcapping emissions from 2020. This resolution isinclusive and mindful of the differing needs ofdeveloped and developing nations.This is the first and only global agreement bygovernments to manage the emissions of an industrialsector. By working together, I am confident that we canachieve its goals. Even the two per cent annual fuelefficiency improvement is possible, if governmentscome to the table with air traffic managementsolutions like the Single European Sky to bridge the0.5 per cent gap with our fuel efficiency target. Aviation went to COP16 in Cancun with its homeworkdone. With ICAO and in co-operation with the UNFCCCwe presented our impressive progress to date and thefuture targets that we have set. And, we delivered fourclear messages to governments:1 Support emissions reductions with improvements inair traffic management. 2 Keep focused on a global approach: reject ineffective regional schemes and concentrate ondeveloping a global framework for economicmeasures under ICAO.3 Do not use the industry as a cash cow. Airlines areoperating on a fragile margin of only 1.6 per cent, yetsupport US$3.5 trillion of economic activity4 Promote this sector's achievements as a role modelfor others.Aviation supports 32 million jobs and US$3.5 trillionin economic activity. To sustain the important role thataviation plays in driving the global economy, we havecommitted to the most aggressive global environmentagenda compared to other sectors. We look forward toworking with governments, under the leadership ofICAO and in coordination with the UNFCC to remain atthe forefront of environmental responsibility. nABOUT THE AUTHORGiovanni Bisignani joined the International AirTransport Association as Director General & CEO in June 2002. Since that time Mr Bisignani has completely re-shaped and re-focused theorganisation to better serve its global membership of 230 airlines, comprising 93 per cent of schedulesinternational air traffic.

n the battle against climate change,tourism is not often considered an ally.Instead the sector, an economic lifelinefor millions in the world, tends to besingled out for its contribution to total greenhouseemissions and targeted with brakes on growth. As one of the world's largest and fastest growinghuman activities, there is no doubt that tourism is avector of climate change, yet its potential contributionto the transformation to a greener economy is oftenforgotten and overlooked. FINDING THE RIGHT FORMULATourism is estimated to contribute five per cent of global CO2emissions, out of which 72 per cent come from transport and around 21 per cent from accommodation.The tourism sector has clearly acknowledged thatemissions must be curbed if it is to continue to growsustainably. As such, the sector has pledged tosubstantially reduce its global greenhouse gasemissions through evolving global agreements, public-private partnerships and new technologies. As laid outin the Davos Process initiated in 2007, UNWTO, asthe UN specialised agency for tourism, is committed tosupporting and guiding tourism's contribution to thisglobal challenge. It is equally important to design tourism adaptationand mitigation polices and strategies taking intoaccount the broader framework. That is, that tourismcurrently represents an estimated five per cent of theworld's GDP, one in twelve jobs globally and is one ofthe principal revenue, jobs and developmentopportunities for many countries, particularly the LeastDeveloped Countries (LDCs) and Small IslandDeveloping States (SIDS). The question is therefore how to ensure that theworld's poorest countries - over half of which havetourism as a priority instrument for poverty reduction -continue to benefit from the income and socialopportunities provided by the tourism sector, whiletackling global warming in a win-win formula. This call is being echoed in current political andeconomic discourse at the highest levels. The last fewyears, with a global economic crisis putting intoquestion the growth paradigms of the last decades,have seen the idea of a "green economy" emerge andmove into the mainstream. Above:Tourism will be animportant factor as Haitirecovers from theearthquake that struckthe country in 2010Above right:Dr TalebRifai, UNWTO SecretaryGeneralRight:Laos has emerged as a populartourist destination inSoutheast AsiaTOURISM -A LEAD AGENT IN THE TRANSFORMATIONTO A GREENER ECONOMY104TOURISMIDR TALEB RIFAI, SECRETARY-GENERAL, THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION (UNWTO)UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe