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eTN becomes a SUNx SDG 17 Partner calling for Climate Sanity in Tourism on Earth Day

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In nature, nothing exists alone is the message for Earth Day 2019. Announcing the public launch of its “SDG17 Partners Program” on Earth Day 2019, Professor Geoffrey Lipman co-founder SUNx, calls and president of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) asks the Travel & Tourism sector to join its “Plan For Our Kids” and take the “Climate Sanity” Pledge.


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Professor Lipman, former Executive Director at IATA, President of WTTC and Assistant Secretary-General UNWTO, said:

“I’m confident that Travel & Tourism will play a leadership role in the global shift to a New Climate Economy: we just need a pathway for change and that lies in our faith in the next generation”

SUNx a legacy for Planetary Champion Maurice Strong has created a “Plan For Our Kids”, aiming to recruit 100,000 STRONG Climate Champions to advance its vision of a no Carbon 2050 sector totally compliant with the evolving goals of the Paris Accords.

He added “During the past year we have seen a welcome intensification of the pressures for a new commitment to Climate Sanity, which stops discussing whether climate change is existential and just gets on with solutions. That’s the common message from Greta Thunberg’s Friday’s for Futures and AOC’s Green New Deal: it’s the message from Earth Scientists and Nobel Economists: it’s the plea from Sir David Attenborough.

”Lipman concluded “SDG 17 Partners will share our long-term vision on the fact that Climate Change is eXistential and that we have to act NOW, as if this Earth Day is the first day of the rest of our lives. We all have different starting positions, based on our separate realities: but we have a shared goal of meeting the Paris Agenda and together taking a “No Carbon 2050 moonshot”. We can deliver Climate Friendly Travel ~ measured plans: green growth: 2050 no carbon proof “

Juergen Steinmetz president of the eTN Corporation said “We are proud to become a SUNx SDG 17 Partner and provide preferential support for this great cause. As long as I have known Geoffrey Lipman, he has been drumming home the message that Climate Change is eXistential and that if we don’t fix it now, it will fix us. We are in, and will use all our links, like ICTP and the African Tourism Board to support Climate Friendly Travel. going forward”.

For more on SUNx and its SDG 17 Partnership Program please contact: go to www.thesunprogram.com

What is Earth Day?

The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Twenty years later, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in more than 190 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage.

On April 22, 1970, millions of people took to the streets to protest the negative impacts of 150 years of industrial development.

In the U.S. and around the world, smog was becoming deadly and evidence was growing that pollution led to developmental delays in children. Biodiversity was in decline as a result of the heavy use of pesticides and other pollutants.

The global ecological awareness was growing, and the US Congress and President Nixon responded quickly. In July of the same year, they created the Environmental Protection Agency, and robust environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, among many.

One billion people

Earth Day is now a global event each year, and more than 1 billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world.

It is a day of political action and civic participation. People march, sign petitions, meet with their elected officials, plant trees, clean up their towns and roads. Corporations and governments use it to make pledges and announce sustainability measures. Faith leaders, including Pope Francis, connect Earth Day with protecting God’s greatest creations, humans, biodiversity and the planet that we all live on.

Earth Day Network, the organization that leads Earth Day worldwide, has chosen as the theme for 2018 to End Plastic Pollution, including creating support for a global effort to eliminate primarily single-use plastics along with global regulation for the disposal of plastics.  EDN is educating millions of people about the health and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics, including pollution of our oceans, water, and wildlife, and about the growing body of evidence that plastic waste is creating serious global problems.

From poisoning and injuring marine life to the ubiquitous presence of plastics in our food to disrupting human hormones and causing major life-threatening diseases and early puberty, the exponential growth of plastics is threatening our planet’s survival.

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China announces Great Wall “emergency repair” over next 5 years

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China’s government has formulated an emergency work plan to repair dilapidated sections of the Great Wall in the next five years, according to the municipal cultural heritage authorities.

The work plan has set 2,772 meters of the Great Wall and 17 towers as the priority for “emergency repair” over the next three years.

Beijing boasts a total length of 520.77 km of the Great Wall, which is more than 21,000 km long and traverses through 15 provinces and cities.

Since 2000, Beijing has earmarked 470 million yuan (70 million U.S. dollars) for the Great Wall protection fund.

In the next stage, the city has planned to comprehensively protect and develop the Great Wall Cultural Belt, with a total area of 4,929.29 square km, which includes both heritage protection and ecological conservation.

Shu Xiaofeng, director of the Beijing municipal administration of cultural heritage, said Beijing will make use of scientific and technological means, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and sensors, to protect and monitor the Great Wall, and carry out archaeological research.

He said the protection of the Great Wall is not only to protect the wall itself, but also to protect cultural relics along the cultural belt.

The Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, consists of many interconnected walls, some dating back 2,000 years.

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Myth-Mania: Stories of men, heroes and indigenous world at MarTa

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The National Archaeological Museum of Taranto (MarTa) celebrated the return of important finds back home. Myth-Mania, rediscovered stories of men and heroes, speaks of objects taken from necropolises by grave robbers, and illegally smuggled out of the country.

Fourteen precious finds – Apulian red-figure vases, now displayed at the MarTa, have been returned to Italy by the Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Metropolitan in New York, thanks to the investigative work of the Command of the Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, and diplomatic negotiations of the MiBAC in synergy with the State Attorney and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The vases were produced on the turn of the fourth century BC in ancient Apulia, destined to satisfy the claims of refinement of the natives, who populated the lands around the Greek cities of southern Italy.

The volute krater- a vase originally intended for the symposium – at a time when men, according to the Greek fashion, at the end of the banquet mixed wine with water, honey and spices in this container and then poured it into the cups – it was used later for grave goods and testified to the wealth and sophistication of the burial owner.

Even the subjects that decorate the sides of the vases are funerary subjects. At the center of one of the two sides there are often stelae or small temples with statues, which reproduce the funerary monuments most in use at the time in Apulia.

The images painted on the vases can go back to telling stories of men and heroes who use the language of myth not for a simple “mania”, as the title of the exhibition provocatively suggests, but as a tool for sharing values and building identities among Greeks.

The director of MarTa highlighted the work she carried out for two years for the restoration of the vessels, following their finding in the MarTa’s museum storage shortly after taking office in 2016:

“Our museum is a great tourist attraction, explains the director. It boasts an annual turnout of 80,000 visitors including Russians, English, Americans and Chinese. Thanks to European funds (2.5 million euros), we are working at the Marta 3.0 project, which concerns the digitalization of the cataloging of over 40 thousand open data and open source exhibits, which means making an archaeological and artistic heritage available to all among the largest and most valuable in the world.

A FabLab is also being set up to allow the most representative works to be reproduced in 3D prints, thus activating valuable merchandising that will be supported by our internal boutique”.

Next to the exhibition of vases is the entire museum structure which on three floors houses exhibits of rare beauty: one above all the athlete’s sarcophagus.

A tourism promotion project.

The image of Taranto, always identified as an industrial and military (Navy) city, was destroyed following the environmental disasters caused by the Ilva industry.

For the last two years, the city has been experiencing a period of rebirth, explains the director Eva Degl’Innocenti, and in the absence of a tourism plan, the need to involve local authorities and private entrepreneurship to create a system for tourist reception with the revival of itineraries of Magna Graecia, involving Paestum, Naples and Reggio Calabria has become apparent.

The MarTa, is one of the richest archaeological museums in Italy, especially with regard to finds from the Greek-Roman period, including the famous collection of gold and silver found in the province of the famous city of Magna Grecia (Taranto) between the IV and the 1st century BC.

Having remained dormant for many years, the MarTa has implemented a revival by hosting highly successful exhibitions. Today museum is a great tourist attraction and boasts an annual turnout of 80,000 visitors including Russians, English, Americans and Chinese.

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Delta Air Lines offsets most carbon emissions for over 300K customers on Earth Day

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In celebration of Earth Day today, Delta is offsetting the emissions of all domestic leisure and business travel into and out of New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham and Atlanta for over 300,000 customers across the country.

Plantable seed paper cutouts shaped like airplanes will be distributed on these selected flights to let customers know the environmental impact of their flight has been offset and inspire them to offset additional travel on delta.com/co2. Once planted, this special paper airplane will sprout non-invasive wildflowers.

“Delta led the U.S. aviation industry by launching the first carbon offset program in 2007, making it easy for customers to reduce the environmental impact of their travel,” said John Laughter, Senior Vice President – Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance. “Delta is also the only major airline to voluntarily cap carbon emissions at 2012 levels by purchasing carbon offsets.”

Since 2013, Delta has voluntarily purchased over 12 million carbon offsets, which is equivalent to the emissions from 1.7 million cars or electricity use for one year in nearly 2 million homes. This is more than any other U.S. airline. Today alone, Delta will buy almost 50,000 carbon offsets. To put this in perspective, 50,000 offsets will equal the emissions from more than 10,000 cars driven for one year.

Delta’s carbon offsets to benefit Conservation Coast project in Guatemala

Every offset Delta purchases today will benefit the Conservation Coast offset project, which provides environmental protection from deforestation and sustainable livelihood opportunities for communities in Guatemala. These offsets will help conserve over 400 bird species and 54,000 hectares of threatened rainforests situated along the Caribbean coastline of Guatemala.

The Conservation Coast project also supports sustainable livelihoods within local communities by teaching things like economically viable and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices that work with the environment rather than against it. To date, over 700 jobs are being supported by the project, 30 percent of which are held by women.

“At Delta, we believe connecting the world begins with caring for it,” said Laughter. “The offset projects we support are holistic, going beyond addressing the environmental impact of travel to provide resources, empowerment and financial opportunities to underserved communities like those involved in the Conservation Coast project.”
Offsetting is affordable. A roundtrip ticket from Atlanta to New York emits 0.28 metric tons of CO2, which can be offset for less than $5.

These offsetting efforts and more are why Delta was honored the Vision For America Award by Keep America Beautiful in 2017, recognized with Captain Planet Foundation’s Superhero Corporate Award in 2018, named to the FTSE4Good Index for four consecutive years, included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index for eight consecutive years, given an honorable mention in Fast Company’s 2019 World Changing Ideas Awards and named one of America’s 100 most sustainable companies according to an in-depth Barron’s study.

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How Emirates is supporting and preserving biodiversity

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Taking its environmental responsibilities seriously and championing wildlife conservation across different corners of the planet, the Emirates Group is playing its part to support and preserve biodiversity.

The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley in Australia both illustrate the Group’s long-standing focus on protecting fragile ecosystems and support for sustainable tourism in very different parts of the world.  Both conservation reserves protect valuable ecosystems and at the same time provide unique and sustainable experiences for visitors from around the world.

The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve

The Emirates Group funds the operations of the 225 square kilometre Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR), an inland desert habitat that has been protected by government mandate since 2003. This is the largest piece of land that Dubai has dedicated to a single project and aims to preserve Dubai’s unique desert environment for future generations. The DDCR plays an important role in ecological research, actively collaborating with both local and international universities. The findings and results of the research studies help to enhance knowledge of the desert ecosystem, gather scientific data around rare and endangered desert species, monitor its balance and preserve its natural environment.

The reserve is also a focal point for conservation programmes aimed at restoring populations of some of the UAE’s wildlife, such as the Arabian gazelle, sand gazelle and Arabian oryx. Since their reintroduction into the DDCR, the antelope species have thrived, and their populations have significantly increased, triggering the process of looking into relocating some oryx and gazelle species to other protected areas within the region. Over 250 endangered Macqueen’s bustard (houbara) were also released this year with 25 of them fitted with tracking devices to monitor their movement and breeding progress.

In 2018, the DDCR was visited by more than 285,000 tourists, through Arabian Adventures, various Emirates partner tour operators, and the Al Maha Desert Resort. The DDCR offers low-impact desert experiences in addition to desert clean-up activities in coordination with Arabian Adventures. During 2018 the DDCR was accepted as a candidate for the IUCN Green List for Protected and Conserved Areas, a global standard for the world’s most effectively managed Protected Areas.

Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley

Emirates has been supporting the protection of Australia’s extraordinary wildlife and plant life for over 10 years, through the conservation-based Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley in New South Wales. The property was the first luxury resort in the world to receive an internationally-recognised carbon neutral certification from New Zealand based CarboNZero, undergoing a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions assessment. Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley also conducts regular research to identify opportunities and challenges for endangered species conservation. Efforts have also been underway to help restore vital vegetation and tree planting activities, which have helped to re-establish habitats for vital bird populations, essential for their long term survival.

Emirates and Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley jointly funded the development of the WomSAT app and website in collaboration the University of Western Sydney to help researchers identify opportunities for wombat conservation. Wombats are threatened by sarcoptic mange, an unpleasant and often fatal skin disease that afflicts Australia’s largest burrow builder. The tool is used to record wombat sightings and track population health to help treat wombats afflicted by sarcoptic mange. Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley is also spearheading a number of other conservation projects, such as the Wolgan River Restoration Project, an ongoing weed management programme, and supporting research projects with Western Sydney University.

United for Wildlife and The Buenos Aires Declaration

Since 2015, Emirates has continued its strong support for actions to stem the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products, which is having devastating consequences for endangered animals and the environment in many parts of the world. In 2018, the Emirates Group also signed the Buenos Aires Declaration on Travel and Tourism and Illegal Wildlife Trade, an effort led by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) to reach a billion travellers with messages to fight the illegal wildlife trade and work with communities to develop sustainable tourism that provides livelihoods and protects wildlife. The WTTC and World Wildlife Fund are developing guidelines to eliminate illegal wildlife trafficking from the travel and tourism supply chains.

The Emirates Group has also adopted a zero-tolerance policy to wildlife trafficking and has set up training for its employees to identify and look out for warning signs of smuggled wildlife products during cargo transportation and screening. Emirates will not carry banned species, hunting trophies or any products associated with illegal wildlife activities.

Using its brand power to raise awareness around the illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, Emirates emblazoned four of its A380s with special wildlife decals. Since then the aircraft have flown millions of kilometres across 48 cities in 29 countries on close to 6,000 flights taking this important message around the world and spurring conversation around wildlife preservation.

dnata Wildlife Conservation and Nature

dnata recently signed an MOU with the University of Pretoria in South Africa to support their research and rehabilitation projects. Under dnata4good, the partnership aims to safeguard wildlife and the environment by strengthening and enhancing research, veterinary training and awareness, increasing involvement through volunteer opportunities and ensuring needed measures are taken to care for injured animals and rehabilitate them to go back into the wild. The initiative will be partially driven by employee participation to protect fragile biodiversity in South Africa and to maintain balanced ecosystems.

Give a Ghaf

Emirates Group employees living in Meydan Heights (UAE) will be taking part in a Ghaf Tree planting event on 27 April in partnership with Goumbook. The event aims to raise awareness about the importance of conserving the living desert, with a specific focus on the Ghaf tree. The Ghaf is a drought tolerant, evergreen tree which can withstand harsh desert environments, and can be used for greening purposes whilst saving water.

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