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9.2 Adaptation to Climate Change 9.2.1 Overview UNWTO, 9 July 2008 Impacts and Adaptation at Tourism Destinations “It is meaningless to study the consequences of climate change without considering the ranges of adaptive responses.” Adger and Kelly (1999) The IPCC 412 indicated that the need for societies around the world and economic sectors like tourism to adapt to climate change in the decades ahead is inescapable. The inevitability of the need to adapt to future climate change and the realization that adaptation is occurring today partially explains why there has been an explosion of research and policy interest in adaptation to climate change over the past five years. 413 Adaptation has figured less prominently in climate change research on tourism than in some other economic sectors (e.g., agriculture) and remains an important knowledge gap, particularly with respect to destinations. 414 Adaptation to climate change refers to an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities. Adaptation can be pursued by societies, institutions, individuals, governments. It is motivated by economic, social or environmental drivers, by many means, for example social activities, market activities, local or global interventions. 415 The implementation of adaptation measures in the tourism sector should consider the time horizon of climate change impacts which is illustrated in Figure 13.1. The information requirements, policy changes and investments that are required for effective adaptation by tourism destinations will require decades in some cases, and therefore the process of adaptation needs to commence in the very near future for destinations anticipated to be among those impacted by mid-century. Figure 9.9 Relative adaptive capacity of major tourism sub-sectors Tourists Tour operators, transport providers (railways, airlines), travel agents Hotels/resorts, attraction operators, communities HIGH Adaptive capacity LOW Source: Scott, D. and Jones, B. (2006a) The dynamic nature of the tourism industry and its ability to cope with a range of recent shocks, including SARS, terrorism attacks in a number of nations, or the Asian tsunami, suggests a relatively high climate change adaptive capacity within the tourism industry overall. The capacity to adapt to climate change is thought to vary between the sub-sectors of the tourism industry. 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421 Figure 9.9 illustrates the relative adaptive capacity of major sub-sectors. Tourists have the greatest adaptive capacity (depending three key resources; money, knowledge and time) with relative freedom to avoid destinations impacted by climate change or shifting the timing of travel to avoid unfavourable climate conditions. The implications of their potential adaptations to climate change are discussed in Chapter 10. Suppliers of tourism services and tourism operators at specific destinations have less adaptive capacity. Large tour operators, who do not own the infrastructure, are in a better position to adapt to changes at destinations because they can respond to clients demands and provide information to influence clients’ travel choices. Destination communities and tourism operators with large investments in immobile capital assets (e.g., hotel, resort complex, marina, or casino) have the least adaptive capacity. 81
82 Climate Change and Tourism – Responding to Global Challenges Table 9.3 Portfolio of climate adaptations utilized by tourism stakeholders Type of adaptation UNWTO, 9 July 2008 Tourism operators/ businesses Technical • Snow-making • Slope contouring • Rainwater collection and water recycling systems • Cyclone-proof building design and structure Managerial • Water conservation plans • Low season closures • Product and market diversification • Regional diversification in business operations • Redirect clients away from impacted destinations Policy • Hurricane interruption guarantees • Comply with regulation (e.g., building code) Research • Site Location (e.g., north facing slopes, higher elevations for ski areas) Education • Water conservation education for employees and guests Behavioural • Real-time webcams of snow conditions • GHG emission offset programs Tourism industry associations • Enable access to early warning equipment (e.g., radios) to tourism operators • Develop websites with practical information on adaptation measures • Snow condition reports through the media • Use of short-term seasonal forecasts for the planning of marketing activities • Training programmes on climate change adaptation • Encourage environmental management with firms (e.g., via certification) • Coordinated political lobbying for GHG emission reductions and adaptation mainstreaming • Seek funding to implement adaptation projects • Assess awareness of businesses and tourists, as well as knowledge gaps • Public education campaign (e.g., ‘Keep Winter Cool’) • GHG emission offset programs • Water conservation initiatives Governments and communities • Reservoirs and desalination plants • Fee structures for water consumption • Weather forecasting and early warning systems • Impact management plans (e.g., ‘Coral Bleaching Response Plan’) • Convention/ event interruption insurance • Business subsidies (e.g., insurance or energy costs) • Coastal management plans and set back requirements • Building design standards (e.g., for hurricane force winds) • Monitoring programs (e.g., predict bleaching or avalanche risk, beach water quality) • Water conservation campaigns • Campaigns on the dangers of UV radiation • Extreme event recovery marketing Financial sector (investors/insurances) • Require advanced building design or material (fire resistant) standards for insurance • Provide information material to customers • Adjust insurance premiums or not renew insurance policies • Restrict lending to high risk business operations • Consideration of climate change in credit risk and project finance assessments • Extreme event risk exposure • Educate/inform potential and existing customers • Good practice in-house
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