The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People has issued a Message for the 2012 World Tourism Day (September 27th). The theme this year is “Tourism and Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development”.
In the message, the President of the Council, Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliò, said:
“Tourism has an important role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals which include ‘ensuring environmental sustainability’, and it must do everything in its power so that these goals will be reached. Therefore, it has to adapt to the conditions of climate change by reducing its emissions of hothouse gas, which at present represent 5% of the total. However, tourism not only contributes to global warming: it is also a victim of it.”