Davos Is Set To Be Switzerland's First Climate Neutral Holiday Destination By 2030
Davos is setting out to be the first climate-neutral holiday destination in Switzerland in 2030. Guests and companies dine together with the “myclimate Klimafonds Davos”, which supports local climate projects. It is operated by the destination organization, the municipality and the myclimate foundation.
With the “Davos Climate 2030” project and the creation of the “myclimate Davos Climate Fund”, the world-famous holiday, leisure and congress location Davos is taking a big step towards sustainable tourism. On the initiative of the destination organization, companies from tourism, tour operators and trade are taking part in an initiative that reduces and compensates for the climate effects of their activities. It is financed by tourist and commercial providers as well as their guests and customers with voluntary contributions.
50 percent of the funds raised in this way will be invested in climate protection projects in Graubünden, Switzerland and worldwide. 35 percent go into measures with which the participating companies make their operations more sustainable and 15 percent flow into a new type of “myclimate Davos Climate Fund”. This finances projects on site that reduce CO2 emissions, at the same time strengthen local providers and businesses, conserve local resources and offer guests and customers high-quality experiences or products.
Guests demand sustainable thinking
“The effects of climate change can already be felt today, especially in the Alpine region. At the same time, the awareness of sustainability and responsibility for the climate among our guests and our service providers has noticeably increased », Reto Branschi, Director / CEO of Destination Davos Klosters, told the media on Tuesday. The destination organization, numerous companies and the community have been committed to sustainability for years. "With the" myclimate Davos Climate Fund ", a vehicle has now been created through which all providers and all guests can participate in the sustainable development of Davos."
The climate fund is equally fed by tourism providers, the trade and the voluntary contributions from guests in Davos who also want to keep their stay climate-neutral: Companies that take part in the initiative donate a small amount of their turnover to the fund. Your guests or customers can also make a voluntary contribution.
Pointing the way for tourism in the Alpine region
"The willingness to actively do something for climate protection is growing steadily," said Kai Landwehr, media spokesman for myclimate. “People often lack the concrete and simple opportunity to do this in everyday life. The initiative for a climate-neutral Davos creates such opportunities and is therefore pioneering for tourism as a whole. "
The destination organization in Davos is not alone with its sustainability initiative. The municipality of Davos, as the largest employer and important provider of services, drives sustainability projects in various areas, Landamman Philipp Wilhelm emphasized: «The municipality of Davos has been running a specialist office for the environment for over 30 years and this year is celebrating its 20th anniversary as an energy city. It is nice that this commitment is now being expanded and intensified with the joint project “Davos Climate 2030”. This increased commitment to climate protection is particularly important for the mountain area. "
Another example of the integration of the sustainability strategy is the Davos Hockey Club, as Jacqueline Kühne, Head of Project Spengler Cup at HC Davos, explained in the media orientation: “The Spengler Cup has been implementing sustainable measures for several years. We are now working on a cross-company strategy for the entire HC Davos. Participation in the DDO initiative gives us access to know-how and scientific support. "
The World Economic Forum is also a partner in the project. Since 2016 it has been offsetting the CO2 emissions of its annual meeting in Davos, including the travel of all participants. “For us, net zero means that we eliminate our emissions as much as possible and avoid them as much as possible. We offset all remaining emissions in projects that actively and measurably remove CO2 from the atmosphere, ”explained Michele Mischler, Head of Swiss Public Affairs at the World Economic Forum.
The goal of making Davos a climate-neutral holiday and congress location by 2030 is very ambitious, Reto Branschi said at the end. "But the time has come to translate words into deeds, and more and more of our companies and their guests and customers see it that way." It now takes many, very small and many large steps to make the goal come true.
The destination demonstrated a small step with the media conference itself: It was held in the climate-neutral conference center as a hybrid event on site and at the same time on the Internet. Numerous media workers were able to save themselves the trip.
