CALL FOR ACTION
CLIMATE CHANGE, BIODIVERSITY AND TOURISM
EQUATIONS Statement on International Biodiversity Day, 22nd May 2007
Global climate change is probably the most severe environmental threat in
the 21st century. Alarm bells have started to ring worldwide for many
important aspects of life like access to water, food production, health,
extreme weather conditions and abrupt and irreversible environmental
changes.
In 2003, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) held its first Summit on
Climate Change and Tourism in Djerba, Tunisia, which set a proactive call
for response from different sectors such as national governments, tourism
companies, academic institutions, NGOs and private and public sectors in the
form of the Djerba Declaration. It recognised the complex relationship
between tourism and climate change, the existing and rapidly worsening
impact of climate change on tourism development in sensitive ecosystems and
also the contribution of tourism industry to climate change. Today climate
change is a top issue for policymakers around the world and tourism is
becoming an important element of the discussions. This is because climate
represents a key resource for tourism and climate related risks in the form
of changing weather patterns and extreme conditions can have a serious
impact on travel patterns.
On the other hand the tourism industry itself is a contributor to climate
change by generating greenhouse gas emissions through travellers'
consumption of transport services, notably road and air transport, and high
levels of energy consumption like air conditioning, heating and lighting in
tourism establishments. The aviation industry is the biggest threat as it is
the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases, growing at a rate of 5% per
year and contributing to 3% of global emissions. Air travel, particularly
long haul international flights emitting greenhouse gases at high cruising
altitudes, adds substantially to climate change effects.
The earth's biodiversity has also not been spared. There is a two way
relationship between biodiversity and climate: biodiversity is threatened by
human-induced climate change and climate change is already forcing
biodiversity to adapt either through shifting habitat or changing life
cycles.
The relentless expansion of the tourism industry is a major cause for
concern. Tourism continues to pervade coasts and islands, especially in the
developing nations leading to undesirable impacts on ecosystems and
biodiversity. Even Multilateral Environmental Agreements like the Convention
on Biological Diversity also continue to promote tourism as a market based
conservation scheme in coastal and island ecosystems without application of
the precautionary principle, as suggested by the Indigenous Peoples' Caucus
in the Eight Conference of Parties to the Convention.
Communities that live on coastal areas and small island states face serious
risks due to sea level rise. They face the brunt of displacement through
expansion of tourism facilities and establishments on the one hand. On the
other, their livelihoods such as fishing are affected due to the fact that
ecosystems like coral reefs that support fish populations are dying as a
result of climate change impacts. In mountainous regions melting of glaciers
pose the risk of floods and threatens the lives and livelihoods of
communities which are dependent on agriculture. Forest diversity is also
threatened by climate change which in turn threatens the livelihood of
forest dependent communities. A significant stretch of the Mediterranean
coast faces desertification due to decrease in rain and rise in temperatures
over long periods of time, posing a threat to tourism and thus impacting
local communities reliant on tourism.
EQUATIONS calls upon governments to take serious and urgent steps for the
implementation of conventions, protocols and resolutions related to climate
change. We urge them to take cognisance of the tourism and linked
transportation and aviation industries as a significant factors contributing
to climate change, and therefore to formulate international and domestic
environmental and tourism policies and regulatory mechanisms, to adapt and
mitigate climate change impacts.
The tourism industry is notorious for high per capita consumption of water,
poor energy efficiency, waste management issues and serious negative
environmental impacts. We call upon the tourism industry to take on the
challenge of an authentic response to the climate change crisis by
implementing measures to reduce energy consumption in tourism establishments
by employing energy-efficient and appropriate green technologies. We
recognise that this may require a significant transformation of current
forms of mass tourism and we urge a serious engagement on this issue to
reduce tourism's climate change footprint.
We question corporations and international financial institutions like the
World Bank who promote market based measures such as carbon trading and
carbon sinks which we believe are unsustainable and false measures. We seek
a complete halt to financing fossil fuel exploration and demand serious
investment in alternative sustainable energy options. Along with peoples
movements all over the world, we condemn the rush into biofuels and carbon
sinks as these lead to destruction of forests, increase monoculture,
promote large agribusiness and pose serious threats to subsistence
agriculture and food security
We call for climate justice and the need to recognise that the single minded
pursuance of unsustainable growth strategies puts our common future at
peril.
The responsibility of seeking viable and sustainable solutions to avert the
climate crisis must take into account particularly the plight of the most
vulnerable communities around the world.
EQUATIONS
International Biodiversity Day 22 May 2007
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