Climate Emergency

Wild Scotland Declares a Climate Emergency

Declaration – 19th November 2020

There is a global climate emergency and the tourism industry contributes to the problem. Yet, we can be part of the solution, lessening our impact, through adopting more environmentally sustainable tourism practices. Wild Scotland, as the representative body of the wildlife, adventure and activity tourism industry commits to encouraging and enabling our members and others involved in the sector to reduce our climate footprint and promote sustainable tourism.

As an industry which celebrates, utilises and is reliant on the natural environment, we realise that we must do more than just preserve it, but make a positive difference to ensure future generations value the natural world. We are proud to join with a growing number of organisations and stand up to say that Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency.

Wild Scotland was established in 2003 to represent, support and develop Scotland’s growing wildlife, adventure and activity tourism sector. Best practice and practical responses to the climate emergency will be shared amongst our members through our web portal. Our new strategic plan and code of practice enables us to commit to:

  • Develop a meaningful Climate Emergency Plan within one year and widely share and seek support for our Declaration and Plan.
  • Advocate for change across the tourism industry and lobby for regulatory change to accelerate to net zero carbon travel
  • Encourage our members, suppliers and partners, including government bodies and NGO’s, to declare a Climate Emergency and to produce their own Climate Emergency Plans.
  • Share information and best practice on how to create and implement a Climate Emergency Plan through practical solutions generated by our members.

Find out more about the Tourism Declares Initiative here.

Climate Emergency Action Plan

In November 2020 Wild Scotland, along with a growing number of businesses and organisations involved in the tourism sector world wide, declared that there was a global climate emergency and that tourism was part of the problem. We also believe that it can be part of the solution and as part of this committed to develop a meaningful climate emergency action plan by November 2021.

Our plan has 4 core elements: Measure, Reduce, Mitigate and Share.

We also have 3 areas of responsibility:

  • Our organisation
  • Our membership
  • Our sector

This plan will always be a work in progress but we will set targets and will  communicate our achievements and when we fail to quite make it. We will  learn from our mistakes and share what we find.

1. MEASURE
We have to begin by looking at Wild Scotland as an organisation, the  management team, the board and our suppliers.

We will estimate the carbon footprint of our:

  • digital presence
  • meetings
  • workshops
  • conferences
  • banking
  • administration

We will also aim to help our members to audit their own carbon footprint.

By November 2022 we will use these to help us to

2. REDUCE
As we calculate the above we will look at ways in which we can improve the  way we operate to reduce our carbon footprint and improve our sustainability.

3. MITIGATE
While we endeavour to reduce our negative impact we will look at mitigating the effects by working with partners and supporting responsible initiatives  which remove carbon and improve biodiversity.

4. SHARE
We will share our progress and encourage and enable members to produce  their own plans and to share best practice. We will continue to promote our  core principles of sustainability, responsibility, care and excellence to our  members, the wider sector and beyond.

We will review this action plan by the end of 2022 to include targets and a timescale.