聯合國環境規劃署（UNEP）表示，柏林觀光展推出環保護照(Green Passport )的活動，希望幫助渡假旅客減少對環境的衝擊。
UNEP執行主任史坦納（Achim Steiner）8日在觀光展上指出，透過網路舉辦的環保護照活動，是為了讓旅客選擇符合環境責任的渡假方式，進而發現自己能友善為永續發展貢獻力量。他表示，「除了機票、泳衣、防曬油，行李箱裡再放進環保護照，旅客就不需要放下平常居家的環保習慣，而是一起帶著，成為難忘假期的一部份。」環保護照網站上提供許多小秘訣，鼓勵遊客選擇負起環境責任的服務業者，減少交通及住宿耗費的能源，並且購買在地生產、環境友善的紀念品。
環保護照網站也提到，觀光客如果能減少能耗、選擇永續的交通工具及住宿地點，再付費抵銷其餘無法避免的碳排放，就可以創造一個幾乎「碳中和」的假期。環保護照活動是由法國生態永續暨空間規劃部，與巴西環境及觀光部共同合辦，屬於法國2006年成立的永續觀光國際小組（International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism）相關計畫。
史坦納指出，觀光業是全球最大的產業，具有深厚的發展潛力，但必須透過永續化才能使觀光對地球的破壞降到最低。世界觀光協會（World Tourism Organization）估計全球旅客數目將在2020年達到15億，相當於世界人口的21%，會對自然景觀造成可觀的衝擊。觀光客對全球環境帶來的問題，除了生物多樣性、海岸與山區是受威脅最嚴重的部份，還包括，旅客造成空中交通日益繁忙、對水與能源的需求持續上升，與當地居民的需求產生衝突、污染更加嚴重等。
根據聯合國最新的報告，全球旅客人數不斷增加，去年共有8億9千8百萬人次，隨著許多原本貧窮的國家躍升為熱門觀光地點，這個數字還會繼續攀升。中東是去年成長比率最高的地區，儘管當地的威脅衝突不斷，國際旅客仍達到4千6百萬人，約上升13%，其中以沙烏地阿拉伯與埃及最受歡迎。亞洲與太平洋島國則吸引了1億8千5百萬名遊客，上升10%，因為馬來西亞、柬普寨、越南、印尼、日本、印度與中國的觀光人數都成長超過一成。
史坦納認為，「困難之處在於讓觀光業能夠更強調永續性的成長。政府當局當然是關鍵之一，但每一個人與他們的家庭，如何規劃並度過假期也是促進環保觀光的重要關鍵。」
更多訊息可參考環保護照網頁
A Green Passport campaign launched at the Berlin Tourism Fair aims to shrink the environmental footprint of vacation travellers, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP.
The goal of the Internet-based campaign is to raise tourists' awareness of their ability to contribute to sustainable development by making responsible holiday choices, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said at the fair Friday.
"Packing a Green Passport along with airline tickets, the swimming costume and the sun lotion means tourists no longer need to leave their green credentials at home but can make them part of the holiday of a lifetime,” he said.
Among many tips on the Green Passport website, the campaign encourages tourists to choose responsible service providers, reduce the consumption of energy in transit or in hotels, and buy locally made, environmentally-friendly souvenirs.
Tourists can make holidays carbon neutral as possible, the Green Passport says, by reducing energy consumption, searching for sustainable mobility and accommodation options and offsetting the inevitable carbon cost of trips.
The French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning, and the Brazilian Ministries of Environment and Tourism co-sponsored the campaign launch.
The Green Passport campaign is a project of the International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism, a French initiative started in 2006.
Tourism, the world's biggest industry, has great potential for development, Steiner said, but it must be sustainable to keep damage to the planet at a minimum.
The World Tourism Organization estimates that there will be 1.5 billion tourists in the world in 2020, representing 21 percent of the world population, generating considerable strain for natural landscapes.
Biodiversity, coastlines and mountain ranges in particular will come under considerable pressure. Heavier use of air transport, increased demand for water and energy - conflicting with the needs of local populations - and more pollution are just some of the tourism-generated problems that affect the global environment.
The number of international tourists continues to climb, with 898 million arrivals registered last year and further increases expected as traditionally poor countries emerge as more popular tourist destinations, according to the latest United Nations snapshot.
The Middle East had the biggest percentage rise last year, with total international tourist numbers leaping 13 percent to 46 million, despite the ongoing threats and tensions across the region. Saudi Arabia and Egypt proved especially popular.
Asia and the Pacific received 185 million visitors, 10 percent improvement driven mainly by double-digit percentage increases in tourist numbers to Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, India and China.
"The challenge is to manage this growth sustainably,” Steiner said. "Governments have a key role to play, but so too do individuals and families when planning and going on holiday."
Find the Green Passport online at: http://www.unep.fr/greenpassport/
全文及圖片詳見：ENS
