Voluntary Initiatives

A voluntary initiative is any action taken by a company, industry, government or third party that goes further than existing environmental laws and regulations. It is a generic term used to describe voluntary agreements, programmes, standards and voluntary codes of conduct, guidelines, principles, etc., adopted by a company, industry, government or third party. Such self- regulatory techniques are likely to be more effective than statutory regulation in addressing specific environmental issues because they are flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. Also, the tourism industry is more likely to take responsibility and ownership for any self regulatory approach.

The most common types of voluntary initiatives include certification schemes, codes of conduct and ecolabels. The scope of such initiatives is wide and can range from non-binding programmes to negotiated, legally binding agreements. Examples include:

  1. a commitment by an individual company to achieve environmental targets beyond those set by regulations
  2. codes of conduct adopted unilaterally at the national or international level by industry associations
  3. agreements on environmental performance targets between government and a company, group of companies or industry sector.
Voluntary initiatives complement but do not replace legislation, regulations, economic measures, information, and other policy tools. Key Elements of Voluntary Initiatives include:
  • commitment: the political will to achieve effective implementation is required.
  • content: the goal or target must be meaningful.
  • co-operation: full involvement of stakeholders in preparation of the initiative is needed.
  • checking: monitoring of implementation and of results is essential.
  • communication: reporting to the public on results, as well as listening to feedback, is necessary.
Voluntary Initiatives have a range of benefits. They are more flexible than regulations and may be better suited to rapidly changing or complex situations. They also improve dialogue and trust between business, government and public and provide opportunities for innovation and flexibility in meeting environmental goals.

An example of a voluntary initiative is the Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development, set up by a group of tour operators from around the world and established jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the World Tourism Organisation (WTO/OMT). Most tour operators recognise that a clean environment is critical to their success, but few of them have the management tools or experience to arrange and conduct tours that minimise their negative environmental and social impacts while optimising their benefits. With this initiative, tour operators are moving towards sustainable tourism by committing themselves to the operation of their businesses with increasing degrees of sustainability and to the promotion and dissemination of methods and practices compatible with sustainable development. In practice this means that tour- operating companies, members of the initiative, commit themselves to exercise environmentally selective criteria in choosing their suppliers, especially among transport companies and hotels. The initiative is voluntary, non- profit, and open to all tour operators, regardless of their size and geographical location.
Other initiatives include (1) The Global Compact: which encourages businesses to uphold human rights, labour and environmental principles, both in their individual corporate practices and by supporting appropriate public policies; and (2) the Global Reporting Initiative an international, multi stakeholder effort to create a common framework for voluntary reporting on economic, environmental and social impact of organisation level activity.

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