Sustainable Tourism Law

SUSTAINABILITY: THE PATH FROM STOCKHOLM TO THE EUROPEAN CHARTER 627 local authorities and by 253 representatives of international organizations and national governments, who committed themselves to implementing the Agenda 21 at a local level and to elaborate a long-term plan of action to reach a sustainable development. The Charter of Aalborg is divided in three parts. The first one, which is longer than the others, includes 14 points that correspond to a declaration of principles . Part I – Consensus Declaration: European Cities & Towns Towards Sustainability 1. The role of European Cities and Towns The cities, where about 80% of the population lives, assume an essential role in the evolution process of life habits, production, consumption and environmental structures 2. The notion and principles of sustainability Environmental sustainability means maintaining the natural capital and therefore: 1) The rate at which we consume renewable materials, water and energy, for example, does not exceed the rate at which natural systems can replenish them 2) The rate at which we consume non-renewable resources does not exceed the rate at which renewable resources are replaced. 3) The rate of emitted pollutants does not exceed the capacity of the air, water and soil to absorb and process them 4) Environmental sustainability entails the maintenance of biodiversity; human health; as well as air, water, and soil qualities at standards sufficient to sustain human life and well-being, as well as animal and plant life, for all time 3. Local strategies towards sustainability As each city is different, it is essential to find an individual path towards sustainability to correct the numerous urban imbalances such as architectural, social, economic, political, natural resource and environment that are damaging the modern world. 4. Sustainability as a Creative, Local, Balance- -Seeking Process Extending into all areas of local decision-making, the city is understood to work as an organic whole, continuously changing and submitting to a management process with an inter-generational perspective. 5. Resolving problems by negotiating outwards The inhabitants of the cities must face their current problems and find a way to solve them without exporting them into the environment at large or perpetuating them into the future.