IMC tourism lecturer Christian Baumgartner supported organisation of UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen
Lively discussion on „Climate Justice in Tourism“ in Copenhagen. IMC Lecturer Christian Baumgartner sees a need to establish a climate-just-framework in the tourism sector.
International panel discussion for a future climate-just-framework
Christian Baumgartner has been lecturer with the IMC (tourism programme) for nature tourism and regional planning for many years. On the occasion of the UN Climate Summit, NGOs and the World Tourism Organization were discussing the challenges for the international tourism industry with regard to climate and development policy on 10 December 2009 at the “Klimaforum09” in Copenhagen. The event “Climate Justice in Tourism” dealt with the possibilities of integrating tourism into mandatory emission reduction targets under the umbrella of the UNFCCC, without loosing sight of the implications for poor people in developing countries. The alarming emission growth forecasts of the tourism sector were examined, as well as the reduction potentials and social effects of the mitigation instruments that are currently being promoted, most notably agrofuels and carbon trading.
Tourism is one of the world‘s largest service sectors. It is estimated that the sector causes between 5 % and 12,5 % of human-made climate change. And it is rapidly growing: tourism emissions are believed to more than double in the next 25 years. Nevertheless, the travel industry has so far not played a significant role in international climate politics. The aviation sector – the main source of tourism’s emissions – has for more than a decade been exempted from mitigation-related regulation. To date, there are no tangible reduction targets on the negotiating table. This was the résumé of an initial presentation by the IMC graduate Andreas Zotz (respect – Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development) and other speakers.
According to Christian Baumgartner of Naturefriends International and the IMC, on behalf of the event organizers, there is a need to establish a climate-just framework also in the tourism sector. “The consequences of climate change will become a substantial problem for the travel industry. Many destinations are affected by its impacts already today”, he notes. As tourism consumption, from a global perspective, is a privilege of a few, the tourism sector could afford to pay for financing mitigation as well as adaptation measures, same as other economic sectors.
Related questions were discussed by a panel, including Luigi Cabrini (Head of Unit for Sustainable Development of the World Tourism Organization / UNWTO), Mamadou Mbodji (Naturefriends Senegal, ASAN), Wolfgang Mehl (Climate Alliance Austria), Sumesh Mangalassery (Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism & Kabani, India), Feiloakitau Kaho Tevi (Pacific Conference of Churches, Fiji), moderated by Imtiaz Muqbil (Travel Impact Newswire, Thailand). Some of the participating NGOs demanded that the involvement of civil society stakeholders in international tourism policy building needs to be improved. This claim was acknowledged by Luigi Cabrini on behalf of the World Tourism Organization.
The event was organized by respect – Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development, Naturefriends International, EED/Tourism Watch, Climate Alliance Austria and the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT), with support of IMC Krems University of Applied Sciences Krems. A detailed report is available at www.respect.at
