Climate Action Days: Building climate-resilient destinations: Integrating climate indicators into sustainability standard

The main goal of the EU Climate Pact satellite event is to facilitate local discussions (from global and European perspective) and explore new ideas and solutions.

As climate risks intensify across Europe, tourism destinations are increasingly exposed to extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and infrastructure vulnerability. Considering the proposed EU 2040 climate targets, the EU Adaptation Strategy and the emerging European framework for climate resilience and risk management, tourism must strengthen its capacity to mitigate emissions while adapting to growing climate impacts.

Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) play a key role in translating EU climate ambition into local action. Integrating climate mitigation, risk assessment and adaptation indicators into sustainability standards is essential to enhance resilience, protect ecosystems and infrastructure, and support investment pathways towards 2050.

Therefore, this workshop highlights the importance of engaging local authorities, businesses, residents and visitors in co-creating climate-resilient destinations. By aligning the revision of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Destination Standard with EU climate objectives, the event aims to strengthen tourism as a driver of community-based climate action and long-term resilience.