Fáilte Ireland and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) have formed a strategic partnership after signing a Memorandum of Understanding detailing their commitment to decarbonising tourism businesses across Ireland.
Through this formal agreement, the organisations will work together across a number of key areas for the tourism sector, the priority being energy efficiency and the adoption of renewable technologies, to accelerate the decarbonisation of tourism businesses in line with national carbon emissions reduction targets.
Speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD said: “Today’s Memorandum of Understanding signing marks an important milestone on the journey to decarbonise the tourism industry in Ireland. Both Fáilte Ireland and the SEAI are committed to decarbonising tourism businesses and this framework will support both organisations to deliver on carbon targets for individuals and businesses working in the tourism industry and play a key role in helping to achieve the ambitious climate targets set out by Government.”
Paul Kelly, CEO at Fáilte Ireland, said: “We can see very clear and significant opportunities to decarbonise tourism businesses across Ireland, and this will be a key focus for us in the year ahead and into the future. We are pleased to sign this Memorandum of Understanding today, which underpins our commitment to our climate action goals and will be hugely important as we work at pace towards the national climate action targets for 2030. The SEAI is a global leader in sustainable energy solutions, and we look forward to working closely with them to align our priorities and support tourism businesses of all sizes across the country to reduce their emissions and make significant reductions to their carbon footprint.”
William Walsh, CEO of SEAI, said: “SEAI and Fáilte Ireland play an important role in supporting the decarbonisation of the tourism industry in Ireland. This new Memorandum of Understanding will help SEAI and Fáilte Ireland raise awareness of supports that are available to enable the tourism sector to deliver national climate action targets, reduce carbon emissions and replace fossil fuels systems across all activities.”
