The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) will participate in the Biodiversity 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16), which will take place in Cali, Colombia, from October 21st to November 1st, 2024. This year’s theme “Peace with Nature”, is a call for reflection to improve our relationship with the environment, and to rethink an economic model that does not prioritize extraction, overexploitation, and nature pollution.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It aims to establish agendas, commitments, and action frameworks to conserve biological diversity and promote sustainable use.
This COP is held every two years. For the first time, Colombia will host the 16th edition of the Biannual Conference on Biodiversity. Each of these Conferences seeks to take decisive measures for the protection of biological diversity. In this context, the GSTC, along with Destinos del Futuro and the Yuluca Alliance (AYLAC) will share its expertise under three-day sessions:
1. On October 24th, the session “Public-private Initiatives to Promote Sustainable Tourism in Protected Natural Areas”, where Jorge Moller, GSTC’s Program Director for Latin America will participate, among colleagues representatives from subnational governments, from the tourism industry technology associations/apps, conservation, tourism organizations, academic institutions specialized in sustainable tourism and community-based tourism initiatives.
This session will emphasize the importance of public-private collaboration, showcasing initiatives and scalable solutions that leverage partnerships between the ICT sector (Information and Communications Technology) and conservation efforts. Exploring innovative models to enhance tourism sustainability and quality in protected natural areas.
2. On October 26th (14:30 – 16:00), the presentation “Yuluca: Latin America and the Caribbean Agreement for the Conservation of Biodiversity through Sustainable and Regenerative Tourism” will take place. The foundation for this regional alliance, known as AYLAC, was laid during the first GSTC Latin American and Caribbean Summit, held in Santa Marta in May 2024. This session will provide the first in-person overview of AYLAC’s progress throughout the year, highlighting its alignment with the Kunming-Montréal framework for regional biodiversity conservation. Additionally, the presentation will outline AYLAC’s governance model and engage other stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean in its implementation.
This session will be opened by Juan Oswaldo Manrique, Colombian Vice Minister of Tourism and closed by Mauricio Cabrera Leal, the Colombian Vice Minister of Environmental Policies and Standardization.
3. On October 26th (17:15 – 18:30), at the panel “Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism Development” moderated by Brigitte Baptiste, Rector of EAN University (a GSTC Member); in this session, Mr. Moller will highlight the efforts made in Latin America and the Caribbean to promote sustainable tourism practices and the importance of partnerships, along with colleagues:
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- Sofía Gutiérrez | Deputy Director for Sustainable Development at UNWTO
- Juan Oswaldo Manrique | Colombian Vice Minister of Tourism (GSTC Member)
- Carlos Manuel Herrera | ANDI Sustainability Vicepresident
- Sandra Montoya | Director at Colombian Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development
- Sandra Valenzuela | Executive Director of WWF Colombia
- Julián Guerrero | USAID Destination Nature Program Director – Colombia (GSTC Member)
The panel aims to establish opportunities, challenges and strategies that strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration, promoting tourism practices that respect and conserve biodiversity and socio-cultural values, benefit local communities, while contributing to the economic and social development.
With the goal of inspiring governments, communities, and businesses, together Mr. Moller will emphasize the need for immediate action to integrate sustainability practices aligned with the GSTC Criteria -the global standards for sustainability in travel and tourism- at all levels in the tourism industry.
“Our continent, the Americas, has an incredible vocation on Sustainable Tourism…. regarding the magnificent Biodiversity that is still a treasure at all levels in our territories. Because of that, we need to take good care of our environment. GSTC has the tools to make this happen and support the development of a public policy that puts in place all the strategies. We need to be there to support public, private and academia to implement the GSTC Criteria in all of their action plans and value proposals. Networking is the way to preserve our nature and cultures in this magnificent place of the world,” said Jorge Moller, GSTC’s Program Director for Latin America.
For further details on COP16, including the agenda and participation of various international stakeholders, visit the official website here.
If you will also be in Cali during COP16 Biodiversity, click here to register for any of the sessions GSTC will participate in.
