Knowledge Series | Sustainable Tourism & Climate Action
Author: Flavia Neri | Original Publication: ABETA — June 1, 2026 | Adapted for Green Initiative Publication
Editorial Note: This article was originally published by ABETA (Brazilian Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism Companies) on June 1, 2026, and has been translated into English and adapted by Green Initiative for distribution to our international network. Green Initiative shares this content as part of our commitment to advancing knowledge on sustainable tourism, climate finance, and protected territories in Latin America and globally.
Each year, Environment Week invites us to look more deeply at what is often right before our eyes. In 2026, that invitation carries even greater urgency. World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5th, carries the global theme “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future” — reinforcing a message that should guide every decision of our time: nature is not optional; it is central to climate resilience and our collective future.
In nature-based tourism, this conversation becomes concrete very quickly. For our sector, the climate crisis is not merely an environmental agenda item, a reputational requirement, or a distant institutional commitment. It already affects rivers, trails, rainfall cycles, drought periods, wildlife, infrastructure, operational safety, and the very survival of the attractions that sustain tourist activity.
The most urgent conversation we must have is the definitive transition from sustainability discussions to regenerative climate action. It is no longer enough to minimize impacts for future generations. The sector must confront the climate emergency as the defining factor for the survival of the activity itself.
This shift begins with a simple but profound question: how do we transform global commitments into local practice? The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, led by UN Tourism, calls on the sector to support the global goal of halving emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero as early as possible before 2050. But climate action in tourism cannot be understood merely as carbon offsetting or emissions compensation. UN Tourism itself defines this agenda as the effort to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously strengthening adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts — encompassing mitigation, adaptation, risk management, governance, finance, data intelligence, and territorial planning.
Far Beyond Beautiful Landscapes
Protected areas often appear in tourism communications as nothing more than beautiful scenery — sold as backdrops, as images of contemplation, as places for visits and enchantment. But what is lost when the sector views these territories only as attractions? It loses their systemic complexity and the real value of biodiversity.
When we reduce protected areas to a mere photographic backdrop, we render invisible the critical ecosystem services they provide: climate regulation, water security, protection of endangered species, sustenance of traditional ways of life, and support for local economies.
The Brazilian poet Manoel de Barros taught us that “the world was not made in alphabet / but rather in water and stone” and that we must “unsee the world” to truly perceive it. Perhaps nature-based tourism must learn, at this moment, to unsee the commercial façade it has so often constructed over these territories. We must unsee the landscape as a shelf product in order to see it as water, stone, interdependent life, environmental safeguard, and a concrete possibility for socioeconomic development for local communities. Nature is not an immutable backdrop at the visitor’s disposal. It is a living territory.
Brazil has an important track record in the creation and consolidation of protected areas. According to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, since the creation of the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC), the total area protected by conservation units has increased by 244.8%. Over the same period, the number of units more than tripled — from 1,053 to 3,185. But for conservation units to be genuinely valued, preserved, and integrated into territorial development, tourism must operate with responsibility, scientific grounding, and a commitment to the permanence of life.
Tourism becomes a true ally of conservation when three conditions work in tandem: multilevel governance, a scientific foundation, and direct financial returns to conservation. Science identifies what must be protected, defines the limits of use, and detects warning signals. Governance creates the agreements, guidelines, and mechanisms ensuring these recommendations are respected by all actors. Financial returns provide the resources needed for enforcement, monitoring, research, and the strengthening of local communities. When a destination succeeds in aligning this triad, it ceases to be merely a place of contemplation and becomes a model for sustainable territorial development.
What Ecotourism and Nature-Based Tourism Companies Can Do
Ecotourism and adventure tourism companies have a decisive role to play. They are stewards of this heritage and, in many cases, the primary bridge connecting visitors with the reality of the territory. Their role extends far beyond safe guiding. It involves supporting established conservation projects for local species, conducting participatory environmental monitoring, adopting eco-efficiency measures, and acting as compliance anchors throughout the supply chain.
A responsible company influences transport, gastronomy, accommodation, suppliers, guides, and the very culture of visitation. It does not merely operate in a territory — it helps define the type of relationship that will be built with it.
Safety, Sustainability, and Professionalization Are Inseparable
Professionalization — qualified guides, well-defined protocols, and Safety Management Systems — is what guarantees safe operations in complex natural environments. A safe, professional operation reduces negative impacts: it avoids inappropriate trampling, wildlife disturbance, water pollution, and conduct that compromises the integrity of attractions.
Without professionalization, there is no safety. Without safety, tourism destroys the destination’s reputation. Without sustainability, the very raw material of tourism — nature — becomes compromised.
Lessons from Mato Grosso do Sul
In Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, we have learned that the sustainability of a destination does not emerge from isolated actions. It depends on building a systemic arrangement among public policy, technical rigor, and private partnership. The structuring of tourism management, visitation control, environmental licensing, attraction monitoring, strengthened governance, and private sector engagement demonstrate that it is possible to align economic development with conservation. They also demonstrate that sustainability cannot be treated as mere rhetorical embellishment — it must be embedded into the management model, planning, operations, and how destinations position themselves in the market.
What is still missing is an important step: for sustainability to move from being a differentiator to being a basic operating requirement. We need to strengthen mechanisms of compliance, legal conformity, and market demand. Sustainability must be integrated into licensing, financing, credit, procurement, and tourism promotion criteria. Environmental and tourism enforcement must be effective. Operators, companies, and travelers must value certifications, regulatory compliance, safety, and social and environmental responsibility.
A Call to Commitment: Three Actions for the Sector
If there are three immediate commitments the sector can make during this Environment Week, they are:
- Advance decarbonization based on science. Every company and every destination must ask how it is inventorying its impacts, reducing emissions, supporting local restoration, and protecting the ecosystems on which it depends.
- Integrate governance networks. No company, however excellent, can resolve climate, environmental, and territorial challenges alone. It is essential to participate in decisions, councils, agreements, and the territorial planning processes of the regions where one operates.
- Update professionalization in the face of the climate emergency. Do our safety protocols already account for extreme weather events? Do our contingency plans reflect the new realities of the climate? Are our infrastructures being adapted for scenarios of greater instability?
The definitive advance of this agenda requires each of us to look at our own reality and make an unavoidable commitment to this triad. The future of nature-based tourism in Brazil will not be measured solely by visitor numbers, packages sold, or the reach of images shared on social media. It will be measured by our capacity to protect the territories that sustain us, to finance conservation, to strengthen local communities, to generate development without rupturing ecological balances, and to transform tourist flows into a genuine force for resilience.
Faced with climate urgency, ecotourism and adventure tourism in Brazil have the opportunity and responsibility to champion the Global South, demonstrating that it is possible to convert business into conservation, experience into awareness, and visitation into protection. But this is not a journey to travel alone. It is collectively that we transform ideas into state policy, commitments into market practices, and visited territories into cared-for territories.
About the Author
Flavia Neri holds degrees in Tourism (UCDB) and Social Communication/Journalism (UFMS), with specializations in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management (UNIDERP) and Protected Areas Management (UEMS), and a Master’s in Geography with an emphasis on Regional Development (UFMS). She serves as an Environmental Inspector at Imasul and as Sustainability and Climate Action Advisor in Tourism at the Mato Grosso do Sul Tourism Foundation, coordinating strategic projects in responsible tourism, strengthening the sector’s promotion and commercialization, and implementing sustainability and climate action initiatives for destination governance. She is also the focal point for the National Forum of Tourism Secretaries and Directors (FORNATUR) in the Thematic Chamber on Sustainability and Climate Actions of the National Tourism Council.
Green Initiative Perspective
This article illustrates precisely the intersection of issues that Green Initiative works on across Latin America, the Caribbean, and globally: the governance of protected areas, sustainable tourism development, climate adaptation, and finance mechanisms for conservation. The framework described here — aligning science, governance, and financial return — mirrors the approach we bring to our work with international institutions, national governments, and private sector partners.
Green Initiative is a UNFCCC-accredited private consultancy specializing in carbon-neutral certification, climate finance, sustainable tourism, renewable energy, and biodiversity. For more information or to explore collaboration opportunities, contact us through our website.
Frequently Asked Questions: Sustainable Tourism & Climate Resilience
What is the role of Green Initiative in sustainable tourism?
Green Initiative (operating exclusively as GI International within Brazil) is a UNFCCC-accredited private consultancy. We specialize in carbon-neutral certification, climate finance, sustainable tourism, renewable energy, and biodiversity, helping global destinations convert business footprints into direct conservation actions.
Why must the nature-based tourism sector shift from sustainability to regenerative action?
Basic sustainability focusing on minimizing future footprint is no longer sufficient. The climate crisis actively disrupts ecosystems, rainfall cycles, wildlife patterns, and infrastructure. Nature-based tourism relies on living territories; therefore, regenerative climate action is vital for the long-term economic survival of the sector.
What is the core framework required to successfully protect tourist conservation areas?
Sustainable territorial development requires a triad of three working conditions: multilevel governance (stakeholder agreements), a scientific foundation (defining usage limits and indicators), and direct financial returns (funding monitoring, enforcement, and local community socioeconomic growth).
How has Brazil expanded its environmental conservation efforts?
According to Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, since the implementation of the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC), total protected surface areas in Brazil have increased by 244.8%, while the total number of managed units has grown from 1,053 to 3,185.
What short-term commitments can tourism companies make during Environment Week?
Companies are urged to advance science-based decarbonization, integrate directly into local governance and territorial planning networks, and proactively update professional safety and infrastructure protocols to handle extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency.
