On the occasion of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 15) in Copenhagen, "Respect - Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development" (Vienna, Austria) and partners have published a brochure on tourism and climate change. As one of the world‘s largest service sectors, tourism is a significant contributor to climate change. However, the aviation sector in particular has for more than a decade been exempted from mitigation-related regulation. There is increasing political pressure on the travel and aviation industry to pay a fair share of the climate-related costs. These costs include both the costs of mitigation to curb global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the costs of helping poor people to adapt to the consequences of climate change that cannot be prevented.
In a new book compilation of perspectives on climate justice, the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) focuses on disaster prevention in tourism. The catalyst for this book was the tsunami of 26 December 2004. However, The rebuilding process ignored lessons from the tsunami including an obvious one: that degraded landscapes and coastal ecosystems - resulting from the removal of natural vegetation, mangroves and sand dunes in the interests of ‘uncluttered' access to the sea - are rendered incapable of fulfilling their natural functions, including providing protection from natural disasters such as cyclones and tsunamis. This reader calls for more attention to disaster prevention, climate protection and climate justice by promoting human rights and social responsibility in tourism. According to the publishers, the lessons learned should be used to take preventive steps in order to protect poor communities from the negative impacts of global warming and tourism.
Tourism Development in a Changing Climate. Backgrounds and Perspectives on the Role of Tourism in International Climate Politics. By Andreas Zotz. Published by Respect, Vienna, 2009, 20 pages. Download: www.respect.at
Disaster Prevention in Tourism - Perspectives on Climate Justice. By Caesar D'Mello, Jonathan McKeown and Sabine Minninger (ed.), published by the Ecumenical Coalition On Tourism, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2009. 317 pages. ISBN 9789742356446. Hard copy: 10 € + postage, or 15 US$ + postage, PDF file: 10 € or 15 US$.
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(December 2009)