Eerikkilä has signed together with Visit Finland and 60 other Finnish tourism companies and areas a tourism industry’s global climate declaration, Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism. The parties that signed the declaration have been committed to halving their carbon dioxide emissions during this decade and aim to reach a carbon-neutral status before 2050.
Glasgow’s declaration is the largest and the most versatile contention dealing with climate change within the tourism industry. The declaration includes a framework that combines all the tourism actors under the commitment in five different ways: by measuring and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, revising procedures, increasing collaboration, and by ensuring required funding for the development of the project.
“Visit Finland wants to do their share to reach the goals and our strategy is directing us towards an active and competent industry. Another aim is to be a comprehensively sustainable destination, which will be carbon neutral by 2035. Visit Finland’s own climate operations are connected to responsible business travels, events, and communication, for example. Foremost, the aim is to offer tools for Finnish tourism companies as the Sustainable Travel Finland -program.” Tells the Senior Director of Visit Finland, Kristiina Hietasaari.
Responsibility work of the years continues in Eerikkilä
Eerikkilä’s responsibility program has been directing the company’s operations for several years now. In Eerikkilä, responsibility means that we do ordinary day environment acts and take good care of the local nature. We promote the local community and cherish our personnel moreover customers’ well-being.
The most current environmental acts in Eerikkilä have been, for instance, the launching of the own solar park, changing the water consumption decreasing shower tabs in the accommodation rooms, furthermore waiving the disposable tableware in the restaurant and the cafeteria. Also, we have a project for the waste sorting intensification, both at the personnel- and customer facilities ongoing.
“We have been doing concrete acts for responsibility for several years now and also received recognition, for example, Green Key -certificate moreover Sustainable Travel Finland label. Our own goal is to halve our carbon footprint by 2030 and to be emission-free by starting 2040,” tells Eerikkilä’s Marketing Manager, Laura Sirén.
“The common mission of us all”
Travelling has to be possible in the future as well and tourism offered business opportunities have to be secured. The same goes for the jobs. Sustainable traveling supports central national aims, for instance, area economic development and the prevention of climate change.
“The prevention of climate change is our common mission. We all must commit to the actions that we can secure low carbon traveling options development,” Hietasaari continues.
The aim of Vist Finland is to grow Finland’s recognizability as a tourism destination and as the forerunner of sustainability. The signing of the declaration, especially done together, is a way to show outside the commitment and to receive effectively responsible acts. By May 2022, Glasgow’s declaration has been signed by over 500 parties around the world, of which 60 are from Finland. There are companies from small to large operators, besides regional organizations.
Finnish tourism operators’ signatures were published at One Planet Forum in Stockholm on the 1st of June. For more information about Glasgow’s climate declaration: Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism.
