Tourism & Transport Forum's Summit spotlights implications of Green Claims Directive and SAF requirements

Tourism & Transport Forum’s 2024 Green Revolution Summit held yesterday at ICC Sydney with the theme ‘Innovate. Sustain. Advance’ brought together leading tourism, aviation and transport thought leaders and changemakers, across the public and private sector to discuss key policy issues facing these sectors.

The panel discussions and keynotes gave attendees an insight into innovations within the industries and processes and policies required to achieve a more sustainable future including the need to validate all green policies and a commitment to a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry.

Opening remarks were delivered by TTF Chief Executive Margy Osmond, followed by a passionate Welcome to Country from Aunty Margret Campbell, Managing Director Dreamtime Southern X and introductory comments from TTF Chairman Bruce Baird.

Panel discussion on ‘Innovate, Sustain, Advance’ saw Rachel Halpern, Head of Sustainabilty – Sydney JANA Investment advisors, Todd Lacey, Regional Manager, Oceania booking com and Stewart Moore, Founder and Chief Executive Earthcheck discuss an array of issues on sustainability that not only pertain to the tourism sector but which also have relevance to the wider leisure industry.

Lacey, having been with booking com for 10 years noted that while sustainability is a journey many businesses are on, it often attracts a sentiment of confusion.

There is also a need to shift the perception of sustainability among consumers away from being something that detracts from their tourism experiences to something that value adds. Lacey also noted that for consumers looking to book accommodation and tourism experiences aligned with best sustainability practices, the certification space needs to be more coordinated, as at present, it is quite fragmented.

Moore spotlighted the Green Claims Directive coming out of the EU and highlighted that the implications for SMEs are to not go to market with a green policy unless it can be validated. The reality now is that green policies have to be verified with scientific data.

The 'Green Claims Directive’ is primarily aimed at protecting consumers from greenwashing.

Lacey added that Block chain technology and AI can help businesses create traces for their sustainability journey.

Cameron Kerr, Chief Executive Taronga Conservation Society Australia was interviewed by Elissa Keenan, Chief Executive EcoTourism Australia in a fireside chat. Kerr also mentioned the significance of the EU Green Claims Directive.

While Keennan highlighted that international businesses and organisations are talking about travel to Australia as possibly prohibiting them from meeting their sustainability goals, Kerr noted that Australia is going to ensure its standards and green validation claims meet the EU standards.

Kerr also touched on Taronga’s partnership with Red Energy. Red is a Principal Partner of Taronga Zoo Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo and powers its operations with 100% renewable electricity.

Decarbonisation of public transport and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) are in the tourism industry’s green zeitgeist and as such were prominent topics among panel discussions with contributions from Andrew Parker, QANTAS Chief Sustainability officer and Stephen Forshaw, Airbus Chief Representative for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Forshaw commented that the Australian Government needs to step up and take an active role in the SAF industry as private capital needs a positive signal from government before investing.

A commitment to the development of a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry was unveiled in this week’s Federal budget which TTF considers will bring Australia a step closer to delivering cleaner, greener air travel.

TTF Chief Executive Margy Osmond said key initiatives announced to support SAF will help safeguard the future of Australia’s tourism, transport and aviation sectors, as consumer demand for more sustainable travel increases.

Osmond elaborated that the Federal budget announcement had shown the Federal Government is listening to the tourism sector’s pleas to support the development of a local SAF industry in Australia, to help achieve our target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Osmond added “consumers are increasingly demanding more sustainable options when they travel and want a greener future for aviation. This extra support will help Australia remain competitive in one of the toughest tourism markets our industry has ever faced.”

Background on Green Claims Directive

Global law firm Baker McKenzie has shared the following on the Green Claims Directive:

"The European Commission launched the European (EU) Green Deal in 2019. The EU Green Deal is a package of policy initiatives, one of which is a commitment to tackle false environmental claims by requiring that consumers receive reliable, comparable, and verifiable information to enable them to make more sustainable decisions and reduce the risk of greenwashing.

"The Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition ("EmpCo Directive") was approved in March 2024 and amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The proposed European Union Green Claims Directive (‘Green Claims Directive’) was tabled by the European Commission in March 2023. Both Directives aim to bridge the gap caused by the current varying standards for validating environmental claims and the lack of clear criteria to tackle their unreliability."