Juist and La Gomera: Working together towards climate neutrality

Cooperation agreement between Juist and La Gomera

The agreement was signed yesterday in the capital of La Gomera by the president of the Island Council of La Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo Curbelo, and the mayor of the island municipality of Juist, Dietmar Patron, in the presence of the first chairman of Futouris, Andreas Koch. It stipulates that La Gomera, as a member of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, and Juist will cooperate in the development and implementation of environmental protection projects with the aim of reducing the island's ecological footprint to zero.

Since Juist embarked on the path to climate neutrality in 2011 with the support of Futouris, the island municipality of La Gomera has also shown interest in developments in the North Sea. Since November 2012, there have been repeated meetings between representatives of both sides in Germany and the Canary Islands, paving the way for the signing of the agreement.

Joint areas of action

Specifically, there will be a number of areas in which Juist and La Gomera will cooperate in the future: The activities will focus on a joint action plan for sustainable tourism, the joint acquisition of funding for specific projects and continuous exchange on all issues relating to the reduction of CO2 emissions and waste, the use of alternative energy sources, the reduction of water consumption and raising awareness among the population and the tourism industry. Finally, there will be joint marketing campaigns to position La Gomera and Juist as sustainable tourism destinations.

Statements on the partnership

Dietmar Patron, mayor of the island municipality of Juist, is delighted about the signing of the agreement: "We are very happy that the cooperation with La Gomera is now official. La Gomera is a wonderful partner for us. Both islands are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and part of national parks. Both islands are also dependent on tourism, and we are united by a shared vision of climate neutrality and the development of sustainable tourism."

Andreas Koch, the first chairman of the industry initiative Futouris, attended the signing of the agreement. He is also very satisfied with the results of the past few years and the fact that both islands want to pursue climate neutrality together: ‘It was precisely for occasions like today that we founded Futouris five years ago. The examples of Juist and La Gomera clearly show how important it is to implement new approaches and visions of sustainable tourism in an exemplary manner so that the results can then be transferred to new destinations and contexts.’

Fernando Méndez Borges, Minister of Tourism for the island of La Gomera, summarises the vision: ‘The islands of La Gomera and Juist have in common that they are committed to environmentally conscious, nature-oriented and sustainable tourism. Both islands want to support each other in this way in order to achieve the goal of becoming climate-neutral islands.’

Signing of the agreement on La Gomera with Thomas Vodde (Juist Island Community), Dietmar Patron (Mayor of Juist Island Community), Juan Alonso Herrera (Vice President of La Gomera), Andreas Koch (Chairman of Futouris e.V.) and Fernando Méndez Borges (Minister of Tourism of La Gomera).