Tourism sector must remain alert to perennial climate change risks
This year, the UN World Tourism Organisation declared that the theme for World Tourism Day, which is celebrated annually on September 27, would be Tourism and Peace. The declaration could not have been more appropriate, solely because we continue to witness nations ravaged by devastating war and conflict in developed and developing worlds alike.
Of interest to me is the link between war, climate change and tourism. Climates are changing everywhere, but it is people living in fragile zones who bear the effects inflicted by climate change and conflict, causing massive suffering and intensifying inequality. Globally, we witness people living through conflict frequently and the massive environmental changes they are experiencing, with their daily lives made more difficult by the violence and changing climate and environment.
Too often, the natural environment is damaged by warfare, leading to water, soil and land contamination or the release of pollutants into the air, thus reducing people’s resilience and ability to adapt to climate change impacts like water scarcity and the reduction of the availability of arable land.
Among others, the climate crisis, compounded by multiple wars, is escalating the severity of humanitarian crises, with humanitarian organisations struggling to respond and unable to meet the exponentially growing needs resulting from unmitigated climate change. This while they continue to respond to children, women and the vulnerable in need of help from the daily strife and eternal scars of the world’s conflicts.
The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index looks at a country’s vulnerability to climate change and other global challenges, set against its ability to improve resilience. Yemen, Mali, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, all of which are dealing with conflict, are among the lowest ranked. This further demonstrates that countries enduring conflict are less able to cope with climate change, as their ability to adapt is weakened by conflict.
The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has been working to raise awareness on climate change issues in the tourism sector. The first international Conference on Climate Change and Tourism in Tunisia in 2003, which the UNWTO organised, resulted in the Djerba Declaration on Climate Change and Tourism. The declaration highlighted the obligation of the tourism industry to reduce their emission of greenhouse gasses (GHG) and recognised the two-way relationship between tourism and climate change.
The South African National Climate Change Response Policy identified tourism as one of the sectors economically vulnerable to measures taken internationally and nationally, to reduce GHG emissions. As such, climate change adaptation and mitigation are vital to enable the entire tourism sector, the government, product owners, visitors and communities are prepared for, respond to, protect and recover from the events.
South Africa’s National Tourism and Climate Change Action Plan highlights the urgent need to address human-induced climate change by slowing down the build-up of GHGs and strengthening the resilience of the natural and physical environment to the effects of climate change.
The tourism sector remains a significant contributor to the South African economy and impacts the lives of millions of citizens in rural and urban settings. SA has the second-largest tourism industry in Africa and indirectly contributes up to 9.1% of employment (1.5 million jobs) and 7% of its gross domestic product.
Therefore, an immediate response within our tourism sector is required to manage the climate change risk, mitigation and adaptation considerations related to tourism, an essential condition for business success.
In this regard, SA’s National Tourism and Climate Change Action Plan suggests that tourism needs to focus on the following risks and opportunities:
- Potential changes in consumer preference away from long-haul travel.
- Emerging policy and regulatory settings in SA’s key markets that could affect demand for travel to South Africa.
- Emerging policy settings in SA that might alter the trading environment.
- Emerging international agreements that might apply to international aviation and maritime emissions and climate change mitigation.
- The need to better understand potential physical climate change impacts on tourism and identify adaptation measures.
This year on World Tourism Day, we need to appreciate that even with an integrated climate change response for our tourism sector, as a country, we have, over the past two decades, made huge human capacity and financial investments in world-class plans, programmes, policies, strategies and guidelines to promote sustainable tourism development and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Blessing Manale is the executive for communications and outreach at the Presidential Climate Commission.
BUSINESS REPORT