Source: Bangkok Post

Activists are drumming up debate on “climate justice and tourism” to call for greater responsibility from tourism operators and airlines on climate change, even if the industry claims to be addressing the issue.

Initiatives such as cutting aviation-fuel emissions could create new problems – with food security in poor countries being endangered by a sustainable biofuels project promoted by the UN World Tourism Organisation, said participants at a workshop in Bangkok organised by Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) under the banner of People’s Action on Climate Change.

Participants said decision-makers must think about alternative and sustainable tourism and link tourism and climate change to issues such as gender justice, land rights, resources management, water consumption, indigenous people’s rights and child protection.

International aviation fuel emissions, like those from international shipping, are excluded from the Kyoto climate agreements of 1997.

Carbon emissions from aviation exceed 730 million tonnes annually – up more than 45% since 1990. The global aviation industry is negotiating to be allowed to continue to pollute at about 2005 levels, while other sectors must return to 1990 levels, the activists claim.

Differences remain among operators – with some critical of the European Union emission trading system, which includes aviation fuel from 2012 – but it is not yet clear how seriously the industry wants to contribute to carbon reductions, said Christina Camp of Tourism Watch International.

Countries that have choices should rethink their strategies on climate change, said Chayant Polpohok, a tourism and environmental educator.

“The Maldives might not have choices – they rely very much on tourism as national income – but Thailand has potential in other sectors too. We should put more resources in other sectors such as farm and forest development. We do not have to compromise everything just for tourism,” he said.

But Dale Lawrence, corporate communications director of Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata), said travel patterns were driven largely by economic factors.

“The banking crisis and subsequent global economic crisis have already prompted a dramatic change in travel trends for business and leisure travellers,” he said.

“Several legacy carriers such as Thai Airways and Qantas have experienced a major drop in demand for first- and business-class tickets as business travellers have saved money by flying economy. Leisure travellers also tend to travel shorter distances. Switch from long-haul to medium-haul. Switch from short-haul to domestic.”

Pata has renewed its commitment to sustainable tourism and social responsibility with a new charter released on World Tourism Day on Sept 27, he said.

The association’s members are also taking part in voluntary carbon credit schemes, he said.

For instance, the Bangkok-based travel agent Khiri Travel is raising awareness of the disposable plastic bag problem in Thailand and Indochina, he said.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is implementing a “shades-closed exercise” for aircraft parked at 17 airports in Japan and five airports overseas, with a saving of 55 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Boeing is also teaming up with Honeywell to commission a study on the sustainability of various saltwater plants for renewable jet fuel.

<tag>Climate activists target tourism operators</tag>

Source: The Nation.

Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, especially India and Bangladesh, are likely to face the highest reductions in agricultural potential in the world due to climate change, according to an Asian Development Bank report released yesterday.

The report analyses three key areas – food, fuel and people – as they will be affected by climate change.

The study says that climate change will place an additional burden on efforts to meet longterm development goals in Asia and the Pacific.

Slow agricultural productivity growth, declining income growth, and problems of maintaining food security already pose challenges to many countries in the region.

Declining agricultural production across most of the region will result in higher food prices and lower food consumption, especially among the poor.

An increased number of peoฌple will be at risk of hunger unless steps are taken to build resilience to climate change. Areas that are already lagging behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and other indicators of human wellbeing will likely suffer the most.

Irrigated agriculture in the region is expected to decline, with rice declines in the range of 14 per cent to 20 per cent, wheat, 2 per cent to 44 per cent, maize, 2 per cent to 5 per cent, and soybean of 9 per cent to 18 per cent over the next 40 years.

Food prices are expected to increase sharply for key crops. Rice prices are projected to be 29 per cent to 37 per cent higher in 2050 compared to those predicted in the absence of climate change, with wheat prices predicted to be 81 per cent to 102 per cent higher, maize prices to rise by 58 per cent to 97 per cent, and soy bean prices to increase by 14 per cent to 49 per cent.

The report says the estimated incremental investment needs for agricultural research, irrigation improvement and climateresilient rural roads in the region are US$3 billion (Bt100.5 billion) to $3.8 billion annually from 2010 to 2050.

The study also suggests that the AsiaPacific region needs expanding supplies of energy to improve the lives of the poor through continued rapid economic growth, while simultaneously ensuring that this development is both locally and globally environmentally sustainable.

Developing countries of the region are projected to account for 38.5 per cent of the global demand for primary energy by 2030 if current development patterns continue. The region is the fastest growing source of anticipated new energyrelatฌed greenhouse gases because of heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

The dual interests of these countries in decoupling future economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing their energy security – through reduce reliance on foreign fuel sources and by expanded production from domestic sources coupled with improved energy efficiency – is driving efforts to increase renewable energy production and to achieve greater demand and supplyside energy efficiency.

The effects of climate change are also increasingly affecting global migration patterns. In the Asia and Pacific region however, environmental change is currently not the only – or even the most important – migration concern.

In the region, likely migraฌtion hot spots include areas affected by sealevel rises, cyclones and typhoons, flooding and other water stress, especially at river deltas, in lowlying small island states, and in arid regions of Central and West Asia.

Barriers to safe and legal internal and international migration for those forced to move primarily as a result of environmental factors are likely to be even more significant in the future, the report says.