Tourism2030 - January

One Planet Summit: will the 30-30 ambition just be bla bla?

2021-01-12T16:57:27Z

A UN-backed summit Monday of political leaders and CEOs pledging to reverse the accelerating destruction of the natural world was long on promises and short on cash.

The French-led One Planet Summit on 10th January 2021, backed by the United Nations and the World Bank, saw more than 50 nations support a plan to create protected areas covering 30 percent of global lands and oceans. The so-called “30-30” initiative could become the cornerstone of a critical biodiversity meet in Kunming, China, postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. While Beijing has yet to announce a new date, sources involved in the preparations say it is likely to take place in early October.

“Until now, we have been destroying our planet, abusing it as if we had a spare one,” UN chief Antonio Guterres told the Paris meeting via a video link from New York. “We have been poisoning air, land and water, and filling our oceans with plastic. And now nature is striking back,” he said, pointing to the Covid crisis as a case in point. So far, efforts to restore nature on a global scale have failed spectacularly.

The planet is on the cusp of a mass extinction event – only the sixth in half-a-billion years – in which species are disappearing at 100 to 1,000 times the normal “background” rate, most scientists agree. A landmark 2019 UN report warned that one million species, about one-in-eight, are threatened, mostly due to habitat loss and our ever-expanding appetites. The impact of climate change has only recently started to kick in.Roughly a football pitch of old-growth tropical forest is felled or goes up in smoke every six seconds.

A score of biodiversity targets set a decade ago by the world’s nations have all been badly missed, Guterres noted. At risk are the clean air, drinkable water and healthy ecosystems upon which our species – and most living things – depend for survival.

Wildlife populations fell 68% since 1970s, new WWF report warns

The way humanity produces food, energy and goods is destroying the habitats of thousands of wildlife species, causing plunging population sizes and contributing to the emergence of diseases such as COVID-19, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020, released on Thursday (10 September).

Greta Thunberg: ‘Bla bla’

The emerging consensus that protecting nature is also essential for the fight against climate change was a dominant theme at the one-day meeting. “Obviously it is right to focus on climate change,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will host a critical climate summit in Glasgow come November. “But we won’t achieve a real balance with our planet unless we protect nature as well,” he added, speaking from London.

The One Planet gathering saw $10 billion dollars (eight million euros) earmarked for the Great Green Wall, a project to restore degraded lands in the Sahel along an 8,000-kilometre (5,000-mile) band from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. The money revives the stalled project, launched in 2007 by a dozen north African nations, but is dwarfed by the amounts needed on a global scale. “Biodiversity is facing a financial gap of US$711 billion per year until 2030,” said Guterres.

Some green groups say the 30-30 plan doesn’t go far enough, while others caution against unintended consequences. Indigenous peoples in particular are wary over the proposed expansion of protected areas, pointing to cases in Africa and Asia where such measures have led to eviction from their ancestral lands.

“Previous expansion of protected areas has meant human rights violations,” Joji Carino, Senior Policy Advisor for the Forest Peoples Programme, told AFP. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg threw cold water on the Paris meet in tweet, under the heading “LIVE from #OnePlanetSummit”. “Bla bla nature, Bla bla important, Bla bla ambitious, Bla bla investments, Bla bla opportunity, Bla bla green growth…” she wrote.

Also participating in the summit were German chancellor Angela Merkel, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

EIB 2020-2021 Survey: Climate action in the face of COVID-19

2021-01-15T09:31:16Z

Assessing citizens’ perception of climate change and expectations on climate action in the face of COVID-19

The European Investment Bank has launched the third edition of the EIB Climate Survey. This year's survey reveals how the COVID-19 crisis influences citizens’ perception of the climate emergency. The findings are particularly relevant at a time when climate and a green recovery are top priorities in the EU’s agenda.

Conducted in partnership with market research firm BVA, the survey aims to inform the broader debate on citizens’ attitudes and expectations in terms of climate action in the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and China.

Post-COVID-19: Europeans want a green recovery

The first part of the survey, conducted in partnership with market research firm BVA, finds that 57% of Europeans say that the post-pandemic economic recovery must take the climate emergency into account. They say their governments should promote low-carbon and climate-resilient growth.

Climate change challenge in COVID-19 world

The current health crisis has changed citizens’ perception of challenges their country is facing today. In the 2019 survey, climate change was ranked as the top challenge by Europeans (cited by nearly half of Europeans). This year, however, it is relegated to fourth place (33%). Unsurprisingly, Europeans name the COVID-19 pandemic as the greatest challenge currently facing their country (72%). The pandemic ranks first in all European countries, with levels ranging from 57% (Hungary) to 86% (Malta).

This is also the case in the United States (73%), where health concerns were already the top-ranked challenge last year, and in the UK (77%). The only exception is China: Chinese people still place climate change as first in their list of challenges (61%), slightly ahead of the pandemic (59%).

The survey reveals that beyond the health issues linked to COVID-19, Europeans and Americans are very concerned by the economic and social consequences of the pandemic. In Europe, unemployment (41%) and a financial crisis (37%) are named as the two other major challenges, both of which are ranked ahead of climate change (33%). In the United States, the top three challenges – the COVID-19 pandemic (73%), unemployment (37%) and a financial crisis (34%) – are the same as in Europe.

Support for a green recovery

However, though the pandemic appears to be Europe's major challenge today, it is not a reason to overlook the climate issue. As found in the 2019 survey, a large majority of citizens – whether in Europe (75%), China (94%) or the United States (72%) – say that climate change has an impact on their everyday lives.

In fact, a majority of Europeans (57%) say that the economic recovery must take the climate emergency into account. They believe their government should promote low-carbon and climate-resilient growth. Only 43% would prefer their government to boost the economy by any means in order to return to economic growth as soon as possible.

What are you ready to give up to fight climate change?

The second part of the survey, conducted in partnership with market research firm BVA, finds that although most respondents are more worried about COVID-19 than climate change, they still believe their choices and actions can contribute to the fight against climate change: 72% of Europeans and Americans, and 84% of Chinese people believe that their own behaviour can make a difference in tackling climate change.

Flights, meat and video streaming: what people are ready to give up

Regardless of where respondents live, people say that it would be easiest to give up flying to fight climate change (40% for Europeans, 38% Americans and 43% for Chinese respondents). This figure is even higher in Poland (46%), the Czech Republic (48%), Hungary (48%), Slovakia (48%) and Croatia (51%).

18% of Europeans say giving up video streaming would be the easiest option, 16% say that giving up meat would be the easiest, 15% say that giving up new clothes would be the easiest option while 11% say that giving up their car would be the easiest choice to make to fight climate change. In Europe, women (20%) are more likely to say that giving up meat would be the easiest option, compared to men (10%).

However, when presented with the opposite question, 39% of Europeans and 38% of Americans say that giving up their car would be the most difficult option. People living in rural areas (51%) say that giving up their car would be the hardest choice, along with people in Italy (46%), Slovenia (46%), Malta (49%) and Luxembourg (52%).

Pandemic and climate concerns affecting future travel plans

Health concerns are also transversal: when asked about COVID-19 and public transport, 75% of Americans, 71% of Chinese people and 67% of Europeans say they are less likely to use public transport because they are worried about their health due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This figure is particularly high in Italy (77%), Romania (78%), Portugal (80%) and Malta (83%).

Download all data on all countries:

https://www.eib.org/attachments/survey/eib-third-climate-survey-results-all-countries.xlsx

About the EU’s climate bank

The European Investment Bank is one of the world’s main financers of climate action. The decade 2021-2030 is critical to address our planet's climate and environment emergency. To achieve this, trillions of investment are required. We must:

limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century,
combat environmental degradation,
halt biodiversity loss, and
stop widening inequalities.

https://www.eib.org/en/about/priorities/climate-action/index.htm

COVID-19 prompts rethink of mass tourism

2021-01-25T07:18:07Z

Agence France Press, 09:39 PM January 18, 2021

The coronavirus pandemic has forced famous tourist destinations to question their business model, though economic realities are likely to stand in the way of major changes. Nature has quickly replaced hordes of visitors at sites like Machu Picchu in Peru, where sightings of elusive Andean bears have caused a buzz among conservationists. And in Thailand, which has seen a drop in arrivals of more than 83%, marine fauna including dugongs, turtles and whale sharks are enjoying a rebound. The Thai government has decided to close more than 150 national parks for an average of three months a year and to limit access so that animal and plant life can flourish. “From now on, we want quality tourism, we don’t want a mass tourist influx into our national parks,” said Varawut Silpa-archa, minister of natural resources and the environment. Visitor fees might have to rise to compensate for the lost income but “it is the price we have to pay” to preserve natural resources, he told AFP.

Seafront in Jesolo, near Venice. Image: AFP/Vincenzo Pinto

Educating travelers

Access to Machu Picchu has also been curbed, and Peruvian authorities are mulling ways to develop a more exclusive model. Local mayor Darwin Baca said they hope tourists can be convinced to stay longer, for example with guided visits to natural sites such as waterfalls while waiting to see Machu Picchu. The site normally takes in about $5.5 billion per year according to official estimates.

Jean-Francois Rial, head of the travel agency Voyageurs du Monde, thought it might be possible to “educate visitors” to seek out less well known sites, or to visit outside of the peak seasons. Officials in Dubrovnik, Croatia, which typifies the effects of excessive tourism, want to attract tourists to places outside the walls of the cramped medieval city. They also want “to reposition Dubrovnik into a destination of excellence and sustainable tourism,” said Ana Hrnic, director of the Dubrovnik tourist board.

The pandemic might turn out to be “a chance to move towards more responsible tourism” over the long term, said Damien Chaney, a marketing professor at the French business school EM Normandie. “For radical solutions to emerge, it generally takes an external shock, such as COVID-19,” he noted.

‘Addicted’ to tourist dollars

But for many, tourism is big, often vital, business. In Tunisia, where it accounts for 14% of gross domestic product, the number of visitors to the island of Djerba has plunged by 80%. “All indicators are flashing red,” said Hichem Mehouachi, the region’s tourist commissioner. In Barcelona, Spain, most restaurants near the iconic Sagrada Familia basilica or along the well-trodden thoroughfare of Las Ramblas have closed or are struggling to make ends meet without tourists. “Tourism kicked out local residents and now that the tourists are gone, there is nothing,” said Marti Cuso, a social worker who has been campaigning against tourists invading the city centre. Pablo Diaz, an economy professor at the Open University of Catalonia, added, “COVID has proved that tourism dependence turns some areas into a desert.” Guido Moltedo, founder of the Italian news website Ytali, has launched a petition calling on museums in Venice to reopen and for a consultation on the city’s future and its cultural vision. Six thousand people have signed it so far. “The city is on its knees,” Moltedo warns. But Venice, like other tourist destinations, would find it hard to do without the primary source of income for around 65% of its inhabitants. “Every little bar here earns 3,000 euros ($3,700) a day, the city is addicted,” Moltedo said. “It’s true that mass tourism is sometimes a problem in Venice, but no tourism at all is worse,” said Claudio Scarpa, head of the local hotel association. Diaz is worried things will go right back to where they were before in Catalonia once health restrictions are lifted. “Even in cities such as Barcelona where there were too many tourists and a strong movement against them, now we miss them,” he acknowledged.

Jean-Pierre Mas, head of the French company Entreprises du Voyage, concluded that COVID-19 would likely provoke “heightened awareness” of damage from mass tourism but “not a revolution.”