Climate Change and Tourism - UNEP - Division of Technology ...

UNWTO, 9 July 2008
Mitigation Policies and Measures
Each of the Alpine Pearls provides its own sustainable mobility options. For example, in
Werfenweng, Austria, guests can utilize a fleet of electric vehicles. The ‘Alpine-Flyer’ electric Swiss
bike is available in six of the Alpine Pearls. The ‘Alpine Pearl Rail Pass’ is also now available from
OBB in Austria to connect passengers between APA member communities. Arosa (Switzerland)
and Werfenweng (Austria) also offer a ‘Neutral-Climate Holiday’ package, where the unavoidable
emissions resulting from rail access and local transportation are calculated with assistance from
APA and offset by emission reduction initiatives in another location. Guests receive a certificate
guaranteeing that their holiday journey is completely climate neutral.
These sustainable mobility projects have been very successful as demonstrated by the changes
in Werfenweng (Austria) since it introduced its car-free resort programme. From 1999 to 2004
Werfenweng has seen:
•
•
•
38% increase in overnight stays in the winter season;
101% increase in overnight stays within the special interest offer ‘holidays from the car’;
31% increase in overnight stays in the summer season;
• increase in train arrivals from 16 to 25%, resulting in the reduction of 375 tonnes of CO2
per
year;
•
tripling of passengers for the Werfenweng ‘Dial-a-ride’ shuttletaxi.
12.1.5 Transport Policies
General policies relevant for tourism transport
There is a general lack of tourism transport policies that address the specific issue of climate change
(see also IPCC WG 3, which identified the lack of political will to address transport emissions as a
major obstacle). Transport policies are often generic and do not distinguish between various travel
motives. For instance, freedom restrictions to travel could be understood as unfair, and transport policies
should be designed in a way to consider this in order to be supported by the public. Policies typically
focus on transport security and an integration of different modes of transport into a transport network
with convenient transfers for the tourist. In contrast, destination-based transport policies often focus on
congestion, parking issues and local air pollution.
Transport policies (and as part thereof tourism) often seek further economic development – often in
alignment with tourism plans – and as a result conflict with environmental policies, in particular those
on climate change.
There are several initiatives at the supranational policy level to make tourism transport more sustainable.
The ‘Biofuels Directive’, for example, is a European Union directive for promoting the use of biofuels
in EU transport. The directive entered into force in October 2001, and stipulates that national measures
must be taken by countries across the EU aiming at replacing 5.75% of all transport fossil fuels with
biofuels by 2010. Currently, petrol and diesel specifications are being reviewed in order to lower both
environmental and health impact, and to take into account the new EU-wide targets on biofuels and
greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The EU, along with Japan, already has the most stringent fuel
efficiency standards in the world (more information can be found on EurActiv.com).
Market-based instruments
Fuel use of international aviation, together with bunker fuels for shipping, is currently not included under
the Kyoto-protocol and in national greenhouse gas inventories, which represents an underestimate of
155