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2007-11-15 06:07:58
By Stephanie Holmes
BBC News
International tourism can play the role of both victim and villain when it
comes to climate change.
It needs balmy weather, corals and coastlines - all under threat from rising
temperatures and climate change.
But it also depends on energy-guzzling jumbo jets, air-conditioned hotel
complexes and swimming pools kept pristine with environmentally damaging
chemicals.
With the sector contributing to some 5% of global carbon emissions, its impact
cannot be ignored.
"We have to talk about tourism and climate change," says Stefanos Fotiou of the
United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).
"Tourism cannot grow sustainably without addressing the challenges of climate
change."
Balancing the boom
The most recent figures from the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) suggest
that the industry continues to expand, with 610 million international tourist
arrivals in the first eight months of 2007, 32 million more than in the same
period last year.
The number is expected to swell to 1.6 billion by 2020.
Experts from the UNWTO say that industry is waking up to its responsibilities,
aware that fuelling climate change, which degrades the very environment on
which tourism depends, could undermine its business in the long term.
"A phenomenon of such magnitude cannot remain without consequences for the
climate," UNWTO chief Francesco Frangialli told delegates at the World Tourism
Market in London, where hundreds of representatives from the sector have
gathered.
At least 60 tourism ministers have pledged to back a declaration drafted in
Davos in October, committing to take "concerted action against climate change".
The agreement aims to adapt tourism to climate change, to mitigate its effects,
to increase the use of alternative technologies and to channel funding for such
efforts towards poorer countries, many of whom depend on tourism for a sizeable
chunk of their economies.
Tourism is the primary source of foreign exchange earnings in 46 out of 50 of
the world's least developed countries, according to the UNWTO.
The declaration contains no specific targets but for Geoffrey Lipman, of the
UNWTO, it demonstrates governments' awareness of the balance between tourism
and climate change.
"It's a first step on a road towards achieving targets. We wouldn't be here if
we weren't committed to playing a part in the global response."
Breathing space
As a state dependent on long-haul tourism, Sri Lanka is one of the nations
leading the way.
With 30% rainforest cover and home to 3,000 Asian elephants, the island has
pledged to become an Earth Lung - a completely carbon clean sovereign state.
"Sri Lanka is a biodiversity hotspot," the country's Tourism Minister Renton de
Alwis said.
The wide variety of flora and fauna indigenous to Sri Lanka's unique ecosystem
makes it particularly vulnerable to climactic shifts.
"It is both an advantage and a responsibility for us. Little Sri Lanka has come
up with the initiative to make us a carbon-neutral destination," Mr de Alwis
said.
This will involve establishing codes of practice for the various tourism
sectors, promoting reforestation and encouraging the use of alternative energy
sources.
But other representatives from countries who depend on long-haul travel
expressed reservations about targeting tourism to tackle climate change.
Australia warned against demonising aviation, Brazil insisted it should not
shoulder a "disproportionate burden" and India pointed out that the best form
of adaptation to climate change is development.
Dramatic action
But for many environmental lobbyists, any attempt to really alter tourism's
impact on the planet must by definition, be drastic.
If I hear the words 'carbon offsetting' once more, I will scream. These kind of
papal indulgences were sold in the Middle Ages
Jeff Gazzard, Aviation Environment Federation
"Business as usual is not going to move us towards a carbon neutral world,"
said Jeff Gazzard, of the Aviation Environment Federation, who nevertheless
welcomes the Davos declaration.
He insists that industry, as well as governments, must tackle the core issues,
rather than trying to rid themselves of responsibility through measures like
carbon offsetting - where individuals or companies balance their carbon output
by financing green projects.
"If I hear the words 'carbon offsetting' once more, I will scream. These kind
of papal indulgences were sold in the Middle Ages. It is like paying someone
else to give up smoking," he said.
Any improvements in plane or fuel technology, he said, would be outpaced by
growth in the sector, which expands by 3-4% per year.
Aviation spewed out some 610 mega-tons of carbon each year, he points out, more
than the world's fourth biggest economy - the UK.
He predicts that, by 2010 the figure will rise to 776 mega-tons and, by 2025,
it will reach 1,228 mega-tons.
He proposes a hefty passenger tax on aviation of 3.6 pence (74 cents) per
kilometre which would flatten demand growth to 1-2% each year.
"This is an industry wedded to kerosene," he said. "There is no tax on aviation
of any meaningful variety."
Changing behaviour
One powerful driver which lobbyists, governments and industry specialists agree
upon is consumers, who can shape policy with their decisions.
This trend has spawned the rise of a wealth of options such as responsible or
eco-tourism which seek to reconcile environmental impact with local benefit.
European tour operator Tui Travel, which provides vacations for 30 million
customers per year, says clients are increasingly asking about the carbon
impact when booking their holidays, even if is the last thing on their minds
when they actually arrive.
The company is pioneering a scheme to rate the energy efficiency of hotels,
expecting that customer demand will transform behaviour as tour operators
withdraw from unsustainable hotels and destinations.
It is a trend that the Unep encourages. "With your choices you can make tourism
respond to climate change," says Mr Fotiou.