Where do “the Live the Deal” and greenearth.travel fit into the big picture.
Well the “big picture” is all about keeping a focus on Climate Response with all the other challenges facing the world community – economic, resource limitations, disasters etc
And it's about simultaneously preparing for the worldwide shift to the new green economy, over the same timescale - less reliance on carbon intensive energy - oil and coal and more reliance on renewable clean energy - solar, wind, gas, tidal, geothermal and the like. And the regulatory, market and fiscal systems that go with it, as well as the infrastructure, trade and employment consequences. And about providing the technology and the finance to the poorest countries, so they don’t get left behind. So it's about reduction, restructuring and revitalisation all at the same time
I hope we can help the Travel & Tourism sector - companies and destinations, play a part responsibly and be seen to be doing just that. That means reducing the 5% of the world's carbon we are responsible for progressively - because everyone has to do that over the next 3 decades - and in line with the commitments governments make in Copenhagen.
Live the Deal is a campaign to start that process of understanding, perspective, focus and above all action by the travel and tourism sector. greenearth.travel is a Think Tank and a kind of social network of people and structures that see things in a similar way and are linking to work together - across public sector, industry and civil society - to support tourism action to respond to climate change and help advance the thinking.
And there will be a Foundation to source and manage funds in a transparent way, with all the right governance that is needed for this kind of activity. We start with two founders Ghassan Aidi and myself. And we will have core partners who at least match our contribution. The Board will be drawn from the partners and will develop in size to 9 members, as the funding grows
Any company that becomes a core partner has the opportunity to sit on the Board: we will rotate membership over time like any other board.
So it’s a kind of pyramid structure with Live the Deal at the top, greenearth.travel providing the support below and then a strong sustaining financial base.
What are the goals and targets the first year
We want a growing body of committed players that’s the most important issue - airlines, airports, hotels, attractions, conference centres, tour operators or travel agents. And we want to bring in academic institutions, cities, communities and the like. Tourism is a complex fragmented business.
Of course we need to build membership and sponsors to operate sustainably and to grow – but this is more about the movement than the business. If we get it right and really engage the sector the numbers will grow rapidly.
For example we have set a target of 20,000 in the first year - which may seem like a large ask from today - but it’s a tiny portion of an industry where every single company and community will have to start changing now .
We want to provide a simple service, easily completed online & very transparent. That’s why we have linked up with the Carbon Consultancy to ensure valid basic measurement systems.
We want to be recognized inside and outside the sector, as a constructive force for change providing valuable support for the industry and some thought and action leadership in relation to tourism meeting climate targets.
We want our internet and new media support activity to be following leading technology trends. We expect the same of our entertainment led by Alston Koch – the platinum disc singer who has recorded our theme song “We can Take this Climate Change” to be seen as an original and engaging way to keep the focus on climate response amongst so many other competing issues. That’s why we will roll out with an animated video this month – it’s effective and efficient.
What will happen to the Revenues
We are trying to keep that simple We will charge a small fee for every company who commits – 60 Euro: a higher, but still nominal contribution from large companies and communities.
We'll provide for registration against national and international GHG reduction targets, simple yearly online reporting including a carbon calculator for SMEs and finally we’ll profile champions.
We’ll spend 90% of all revenues on the program and the rest on administration and building sustainability into the system.
And we’ll hopefully attract sponsorship support, because we are pro tourism because of its power to build social and economic development sustainably. And we are for air transport because it helps make our global society and economy develop better.
But we’ll take a very objective and when needed, critical view when it comes to meeting carbon targets. And we’ll engage a cross section of involved stakeholders including civil society to make sure we reflect balance in our thinking about where Tourism can genuinely contribute to the green economy and how it needs to adapt.
And the 2010 Game-plan?
To date we have strong interest within public and private sector organizations for the overall thrust but frankly we are in the roll out phase. We expect to get most of the industry bodies on board by the end of 2010 - why wouldn't they support a good cause like carbon emission reduction.
We plan monthly newsletters to begin with, as well as daily updates on the web and a formal Annual Report in the final quarter.
We are building events around industry conferences and trade fairs and will be active on all continents spread throughout 2010.
At this stage we plan to identify champions, not to finance projects However we will build up a learning element in 2010 and launch it in 2011.
We also plan a strong recognition program updated monthly and Annual Champions Awards, starting at the Abu Dhabi Summit in the last quarter.
To begin with we will have two formal points of contact in the EU and in the Gulf. As we roll out the network we will have nodes around the world - but we are internet driven and that's how our communications are envisaged. We welcome any interest - to Professor Geoffrey Lipman in Brussels or Nicki Page in UAE.
