emma whittlesea - university of plymouth - carbon tax presentation - vtic
DESCRIPTION
First presented at the Victoria Tourism Industry Council’s (VTIC) 2012 May Quarterly Forum.TRANSCRIPT
Stepping forwards or
backwards?
Emma Whittlesea
• Changing Times• The Challenge for Tourism• Changing Business• Mechanisms to Respond• Conclusion
Presentation Outline
A planet under change and pressure
• Warming Planet
• Ocean Acidification
• Running out of Resources
• World’s species taking the strain
• A growing population…
... requiring more each year!
IPCC Reports Rio Earth Summit 1992 Kyoto Protocol 1998 Stern Review - 2006 Davos Declaration 2007 Climate Change Act 2008 Carbon Reduction
Commitment UK Low Carbon Transition
Plan National Government
Indicators 185, 186 & 188 South West UK - first Low
Carbon Economic Area - July 2009
Government strategies & plans
SW RDA Zero Carbon Portfolio
Changing Consciousness
“Am I bothered?”
• Sustainability can’t be separate• Embed not Bolt-on
• What is success?• Value over Volume• Environment and Social Benefits
A Changing Context for Tourism
‘Meeting the needs of the
visitor, industry and community
within environmental
and social limits’
“Our particular business is small and whatever will affect it, as far as climate change is concerned, will affect us too, so we are gradually making changes,
as we need them ourselves.”
“Gentlemen, the world
is not flat…”“It is difficult to get a man to
understand something when his job depends on his not
understanding it.” Upton Sinclair
“One day it will get more attention from me...lack the time at the
moment, though I'm sure a catastrophe would focus the mind!”
“Bring on global warming and let's have some hot summers! Rev those engines and let’s get
cooking!”
We can be daft about risk… Risk attitude research suggests that we have, at
best, a dysfunctional response to the concept
of risk.
South West Per Visitor Day Carbon Footprint (Kg CO2)
0102030405060708090
Overseas StayingVisitor
Domestic StayingVisitor
Day Visitor
Services
Event
Attraction
Activity
Shopping
Travel
Food
Accommodation
5.5kg 2050 target line
2020 34% Government Target
321,106 tonnes CO2e!!
Overseas visitor impact is disproportionately high (26% higher than the
average Day and Domestic impact combined)
The Low Carbon Challenge
• Profile 1 – Money to burn
– Hotel for 2 days, flies from Scotland, hires a car, eat out at Restaurants for lunch and dinner, first day shopping and buys local jewellery, art work and clothing, second day took part in water sports
• Profile 2 – Cheap trip– Holiday village for 4 days, travels by car from Wales, eats out
once during the visit in a café, all other food is bought and cooked, buys gifts and some treats, takes part in boating activities, visits art galleries
• Profile 3 – Green Dream– Camps for 5 days, travels from London by train. Takes bicycle
for tour of Devon, Eats out for most meals, limited purchases, visits an attraction every other day and ends the trip at a festival
Understanding our Visitors
The different footprints of the 3 profiles. We need a conscious
understanding of the growth we want!?
Air Display, between 194 and
217 tCO2, only 1.4% of
estimated visitor emissions
Event Operations
Events operations only 4% of the total impact and protected 6x the
area of rainforest
20% growth in visitor numbers by 2020◦ 800,000 additional visitors
25% growth in visitor spend by 2020◦ £63 million increase
34% reduction in emissions by 2020◦ No obvious environmental objectives or targets
££££££££££££££££
CO2e
The Challenge of Responsible Growth
Policy & Legislation Measurement Research Technological improvements Environmental Management Social & Behavioural Change Economic Drivers Initiatives Managerial Approaches Communication
Mechanisms for Change
Review Business Priorities
Integrated sustainability within existing activities businesses participate in…
Case studies inspire others to follow…
Emma WhittleseaUniversity of Plymouth / [email protected]
Thank you
http://www.swtourismalliance.org.uk/