by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 1:45 PM ET, Fri March 15, 2024
The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), in partnership with Tomorrow’s Air and Innovation Norway, announced 2024 to be a Year in Climate Action, offering a year-long educational event series ending in a global summit in Norway.
The three organizations will combine their expertise, resources and networks to bridge the gaps between current climate emission reduction efforts and what is needed to reduce the harmful effects of climate change.
The Year of Climate Action began on January 31 during a small group meeting at the Norwegian Consul General’s residence in San Francisco. Attendees included Fred Reid, the Global Head of Business Development of SurfAir, Susan Su of Toba Capital, Daniel Anger of McKinsey and Company, Carly Biggart of Hurtigruten and Matt Berna of Intrepid Travel.
The final event will be an exclusive global summit taking place in Norway from October 29 through November 2, 2024. The Innovate for Tomorrow: Climate Action Summit will bring global travel industry executives together to discuss how to invest in better technologies to speed up emissions reduction goals. A highlight of the event will be an overnight sailing from Bergen to Ålesund onboard the hybrid-electric Hurtigruten MS Richard With.
While the travel industry—and others—continue making commitments to reduce emissions, there is a need to reduce global emissions by 55 percent by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Currently, global reduction efforts will reduce emissions by 7 percent by 2030, far below this goal.
“The 'Year of Climate Innovation' and the 'Innovate for Tomorrow Climate Summit' reflect Norway’s proactive commitment to climate action,” said Hege Barnes, Managing Director for Innovation Norway in the U.S. “The Norwegian government has launched an aggressive initiative to speed up Norway’s green transition with an objective to cut our climate emissions in half by 2030.”
“The focus will be on increasing value creation across green industries, giving priority to, and securing profitable and sustainable growth for companies developing innovative products and solutions that help us achieve our overall climate goals,” continued Barnes. “Oslo, Norway’s capital, aims to offer an all-electric public transport system and become the world’s first wholly-emission-free city by 2030, and our UNESCO World Heritage Fjords are seeking to be emission-free by 2026.”
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