Machu Picchu Renews Carbon Neutral Certification With 7.26% Per-Tourist Footprint Reduction

Green Initiative International has renewed Machu Picchu's Carbon Neutral Certification for the third consecutive year, with the destination achieving a 7.26% reduction in carbon footprint per tourist and 5,057 tonnes of CO2 equivalent captured through ecological restoration in 2024. The certification aligns with GHG Protocol and IPCC guidelines and involves a multi-stakeholder coalition including UN Tourism, UNFCCC and a range of private sector partners.

Machu Picchu's climate strategy integrates circular economy solutions including biochar production through pyrolysis, biodiesel from used cooking oils, PET and packaging recycling, and improvements in sustainable mobility through electric vehicles. Residual emissions are offset using high-integrity carbon credits. The certification has been achieved through coordinated action between the Municipality of Machu Picchu, Inkaterra, AJE Group, SERNANP, PROMPERÚ, Tetra Pak, Inka Rail, Peru Rail, Belmond, LATAM Airlines, WorldXchange and other partners, with support from UN Tourism and UNCTAD. The renewal was announced at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

The Machu Picchu model demonstrates that high-footfall heritage tourism destinations can achieve credible carbon neutrality through a combination of operational decarbonisation, circular economy infrastructure and verified carbon offsetting, providing a transferable framework for other major tourism destinations in Asia and globally. For India, which hosts several UNESCO World Heritage Sites with significant international visitor numbers, the multi-stakeholder governance model and science-based monitoring approach adopted at Machu Picchu offers a practical template for sustainable tourism certification at scale.

The destination is expanding its certification model through the World's First Carbon Neutral Tourism Corridor, connecting municipalities from Machu Picchu to Cusco, and through international cooperation with sites including Angkor Wat and Petra aimed at advancing implementation of the Glasgow Declaration and Paris Agreement goals. Green Initiative International said it will continue supporting destinations in reducing emissions, restoring ecosystems and building a climate-positive future for global tourism, with the Machu Picchu experience intended to serve as a scalable model for the Americas and beyond.

Key figure — 5,057 tonnes of CO2e captured through ecological restoration in 2024