The sixth edition of the 'Foro Global Sur Lanzarote 2025´- Strategies for a resilient future- , took place this Friday at the Marina Hub of Arrecife, in the capital of the island. The event hosted a series of conferences and debates on the future of Lanzarote in the face of the risks of climate change, tourism growth and the advance of artificial intelligence.
The Deputy Minister of Communication of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jonathan Domínguez, was the first to speak at this event: “Saving our environment and nature, the ecosystem that allows us to live here, requires a commitment of shared responsibility, of individual and collective awareness, with more constructive actions and valuing the positive that drives and unites us in the face of the negative that confronts and paralyzes us,” he stressed to the attendees.
Lanzarote facing the challenges of the future
The forum, presented by journalist and radio presenter Alberto Acosta, continued with a presentation by futurist Gerd Leonhard, considered one of the most influential personalities in Europe by the American magazine Wired and a resident of Lanzarote.
The futurist, who has given more than 2,000 master lectures around the world in organizations such as Google, Microsoft or the European Commission, indicated that Canarian society is at a crossroads in combating climate change through different measures, such as the implementation of renewables, and using artificial intelligence as a tool and not as a substitute for human thought.
For Leonhard, the world is experiencing four simultaneous revolutions: the geopolitical revolution, the digital revolution, the sustainability revolution and the purpose revolution. “All emergencies are also an opportunity,” adds the expert, who has invited to take measures to prevent elements such as massification, lack of housing and problems such as water from continuing to grow and become unsustainable in the short term.
The speaker relied on data from the Lanzarote in figures report, which shows that between hotels and vacation homes one billion euros have been entered on the island: “Where is this money going? What would happen if we could use this money in a circular way?”, he questioned. At this point, he proposed the creation of a tax for the future, which would pursue the decarbonization of the island and benefit the local population.
“If we returned what we take in Lanzarote, we would be great. We have 3.5 million people who visit us who are not giving back what they take, only paying,” he added about the impact of the arrival of tourists to the island.
In his speech, he also invited to reflect on what impact artificial intelligence would have on the island if self-driving cars entered the tourist areas to transport visitors or if the employees of car rental companies were replaced by machines. “Business as usual is dead or dying. Technology, climate emergencies and the new generation are changing everything,” he continued.
In this way, he proposed that technological advances be used to turn the island into a benchmark in sustainability and that companies have to answer these questions: “What have you done for the people, what have you done for the planet, what have you done for the purpose and if you have managed to earn money? Because if the future is bad, it is bad for everyone.”
To conclude his presentation, he pointed out that “we are at the end of the digital revolution, we have to be more ecological because we are killing the planet.” In addition, he stressed with optimism that “we have solutions, technology, science, money and now we have to have the will.”
For her part, Jéssica de León, Minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, explained that the Ministry has developed “a climate change strategy”, with the aim of “decarbonizing the industry, controlling flows and converting the destination to generate opportunities on the other side of the Atlantic and, therefore, help us become a more solid and diversified economy.”
In this sense, she said that, in this way, “that green model is not of restrictions, but of opportunities if we know how to interpret the changes that the geopolitical context and the variations in technology have put in place.” She also pointed out that the Canary Islands must move “towards regenerative tourism.”
In addition, the Minister explained that the regional Executive is considering “creating a public and private compensation fund where large corporations capture regeneration projects in the Canary Islands.”
Regarding the projects, de León stressed that they are investigating “how a destination of volcanoes can better influence the experience and if our beaches are carbon sinks. There are minerals present in the beaches of the Canary Islands that are only here and that the Canarian universities believe are beginning to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, so we can have the best carbon sink in Europe on our beaches.”
In the roadmap for tourism in the islands, the Minister pointed out that “people have to be at the center, that is the true paradigm shift of all government action. Regulatory changes in the Canary Islands where what is pursued is that everything that is generated in the tourism industry is thinking about those of us who live here and the prosperity of the local citizenry.”
Debate on the ecotax
After the intervention of the Minister of Tourism, the South Global Forum closed with the intervention of a round table, moderated by the journalist and presenter of Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero Techy Acosta, between the president of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, José Valle, and the director of European Affairs of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Luis Alvarado.
“For me, the ecotax is a thing of the past,” said the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort”, who defended that the approval of a tax to reverse the arrival of tourists in the preservation of natural spaces would not affect the decrease in inflation suffered by the population.
Meanwhile, José Valle, president of the Chamber, was in favor of this tax. Thus, he indicated that he would support its approval “if we are able to convince the tourist that this is to preserve the destination they are coming to and that it continues to be their great vacation spot and that we need some complementary help.” Thus, he added that “we have many weapons to convince” visitors to pay that tax. “We have to be brave,” but he asked “to be clear on the final objectives.”
The event has been sponsored by Turismo Lanzarote, the Government of the Canary Islands, the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers, Cicar Lanzarote, miHub and the collaboration of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote.
