Planeta Forum

[planeta]

Does global warming make it ethical to travel? -- This question will be reviewed in the Ethical Travel Dialogue, June 13-July 21, 2006.
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/etd.html
http://forum.planeta.com/viewforum.php?f=79

REQUEST -- Please keep messages brief, preferably less than three paragraphs or 250 words. If you have a relevant URL, please mention it within hyphens or on a separate line.

Example: The City Parks Gallery -- http://www.flickr.com/groups/cityparks -- is open to anyone with a Flickr account and who wishes to share pictures of urban parks.

REFERENCES

Environmental Impact of Transportation
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/transportation.html

Climate Guide
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/resources/climate.html

Carbon Emission Offsetting
http://forum.planeta.com/viewtopic.php?t=451

[STIreland]

Rapidly rising oil and gas prices and repeated warnings on the likely severity of climate change are increasingly underscored by recent news events. There can be no doubt that the twinned issues, both rooted in our historic relationship to energy sources and uses, will redefine virtually every aspect of our lives.
The reliance of the airline and tourism industry on oil means this industry will probably be the first to be affected. Already, high oil prices are causing fuel surcharges on air tickets and in the US a number of airlines are close to bankruptcy. Potentially, over time, international air travel and tourism will contract.
Of course we can’t imagine we will stop driving cars and flying planes. But energy crises are an opportunity to raise public awareness and get the public to understand the need for an alternative, as in 5-10 years the cost of flying will change the tourist options for the public, especially in countries like Ireland.
How these changes will steer the public towards more ethical tourism choices?
- People hopefully will start questioning their lifestyles and stop looking for a fix to sustain current lifestyles.
- Individuals will need to take own responsibility and look at what information is available for choices to be made and what are responsible options on the agenda.
- Operators will encourage people to make this change: Eco-certification are a good starting point and sets of standard, Small businesses can be a trailblazer for new possibilities; all these need to be introduced fining a balance, without scaring people and turn them off.

[Rosie]

Hi STIreland

All that you say is true and will come about one day. However, in the meantime we have to remember that many nations, particularly small island economies, such as those in the Caribbean, are almost completely reliant on tourism revenue for income. Decline in air transport might very well be an economic disaster for the people who live there.

Perhaps now it is time also for governments to realise that tourism will not always be the bountiful economic and political stabiliser that has bailed many economies out over the last 50 years. The problem here is that small developing nations have no stake in the global market place other than tourism.

I have no answers but feel that this point needs to be made.

[planeta]

A few news stories from the Guardian have covered the environmental impact of airline transportation:

Flights of fancy - Leo Hickman/Guardian
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/leo_hickman/2006/07/post_199.html

How could planes be less damaging? - Leon Hickman/Guardian
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/ecotourism/story/0,,1779206,00.html

Is it OK to fly? - Leon Hickman/Guardian
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/ecotourism/story/0,,1779207,00.html

[Mary Finn]

This subject is another tough one - as the least environmentally damaging option would be for most of us to stay close to home. But does anyone know of a viable ' virtual' tourism project, based on blogging or use of flickr for example?

In the absence of that extreme, what are the things that can be controlled or influenced by ecotourism operators? We could investigate and encourage the use of the most environmentally friendly local transports (buses? - though in Ecuador the smoke these spew out make me doubt this is best; shared rides instead of single hired cars? bicycling, horseback riding where possible?) Getting people to stay in one place longer perhaps (instead of the stereotypical American 'if this is Tuesday I must be in Belgium' whirlwind tour?) Also we should make it even more of a priority to buy locally to minimize trips for provisions.

All of these are hard and involve some sacrifice of convenience or comfort on the part of visitors (who seem more rushed and impatient these days and if anything, rather less likely to be willing to 'hang out' waiting for a shared ride.) In the part of rural Ecuador where I worked and lived, economics and increasing prosperity from ecotourism itself has resulted in much higher auto & truck ownership, so that even locals who used to walk a few kilometers or so, or ride a mule or bike, or catch a ride in the back of the milk truck, now routinely pay a dollar or so to contract a separate ride. This of course is progress from the locals' standpoint. And it's hard to criticize this when they are merely imitating what they see visitors doing.

On planting trees, I understand there are controversies about carbon offsets, that among other things these let the polluters off the hook. But does that mean that we shouldn't for example, make planting a tree or two part of the visiting experience for each ecotourist? Are there any other small (or even biggish) steps that ecotourism operators could take?

Mary