SUSTAINABILITY: UNWTO AND THE WORLD CODE OF ETHICS FOR TOURISM contributing to economic development, social inclusion and environmental protection" (UNWTO, 2023). The UNWTO/WTO is active in a wide range of areas related to tourism, including: a) Tourism promotion: through marketing and publicity campaigns, international events and cooperation with other international bodies; b) Tourism development: tourism development through training programs technical assistance and funding for a wide range of projects; c) Tourism regulation: the UNWTO promotes tourism regulation in order to protect tourists, tourism workers and the environment; d) Tourism research: the UNWTO conducts tourism research to improve understanding of the sector. (UNWTO, 2023). As a specialized agency, the UNWTO has a significant impact on world tourism. Its programs and activities contribute to tourism growth, job creation and environmental protection. In this sense, the international tourism organization plays an important role in promoting tourism as a force for sustainable development. Its principles and guidelines for sustainable tourism have been adopted by various governments and companies around the world. Over the last decade, the UNWTO has faced a series of challenges related to the growth of tourism, especially with regard to the sustainability of the activity, in order to minimize pressures on the natural and cultural resources of the various tourist sites (UNWTO, 2021). Climate change is affecting tourism, causing damage to tourist destinations and making travelling more expensive and difficult. The UNWTO has been working hard on research to help governments and companies adapt to climate change and minimize its impact on the activity (UNWTO, 2020)3. Of particular note is the organization’s reinforcement of financing strategies to combat climate change. In 2023, the UNWTO launched the UN NetZero Facility and the RePlanet Capital Fund as strategies to promote the so-called "blue" and "green" economies which, on the one hand, offer technical advisory services for achieving lower carbon emissions and, on the other hand, encourage mixed financing from multiple partners in the United Nations system (UNWTO, 2023). 3 Since COP26, the Glasgow Declaration has illustrated the concern of hundreds of organizations in the sector about Climate Action in Tourism. The Declaration has a clear purpose: to encourage the halving of greenhouse gas emissions from the tourism industry by 2030 and to achieve the so-called NetZero by 2050 (UNWTO; UNEP 2021).
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