Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch
Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch
Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch
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<strong>Beyond</strong> <strong>Greening</strong>: Reflections on <strong>Tourism</strong> in the Rio-Process | Positioningpaperenshrined within international human rights standards, many of which are legally binding onStates 29 . In 2010, the UN General Assembly (2010) and UN Human Rights Council reaffirmedthe right to water and sanitation (UN, 2011), reinforcing the obligations on states to uphold,fulfil and protect this right. In terms of the private sector, the UN Guiding Principles onBusiness and Human Rights, which were unanimously endorsed by the UN Human RightsCouncil in 2011, clearly set out the responsibility of all businesses everywhere to respecthuman rights as a global baseline norm (UNHRC, 2011).<strong>Tourism</strong> and a green economy?<strong>Tourism</strong> is one of the largest and fastest growing service industries in the world, with arrivalspredicted to hit 1.8 billion by 2030 (UNWTO, 2011). The potential for tourism to generateeconomic growth through jobs and foreign exchange means it is harnessed as a developmentdriver by countries all over the world. This includes many in the global South which may lackexport industries, but are rich in coastlines and sunshine.However, new research by <strong>Tourism</strong> Concern indicates that, in many cases, tourism’sinequitable consumption of water is exacerbating poverty, curtailing socioeconomicopportunities and degrading the environment, while undermining food security, livelihoodsand wider sustainable development (<strong>Tourism</strong> Concern, 2012). Case studies from Bali(Indonesia), Goa and Kerala (South India), The Gambia (West Africa), and Zanzibar(Tanzania, East Africa), demonstrate how the water demands of tourism are directlyinfringing water rights of local communities through the over-exploitation of aquifers,lowering of groundwater tables, and contamination of freshwater by saltwater, sewage andwaste. The superior infrastructure of large resorts and hotels, such as wide pipes and powerfulelectric pumps, is enabling them to appropriate water from public supplies at the expense oflocal people, including small-scale tourism entrepreneurs. These issues are underpinned byweak tourism and water governance, rule-flouting by the industry, resource limitations, andlack of awareness of the issues and how to address them among governments, industry andtourists alike.The current scenario is leading toresentment and conflict between localpeople and the tourism sector. It isneither socially, environmentally noreconomically sustainable. Given theheavy dependency on tourism in all thecase-study destinations for livelihoodsand economic development, thissituation has to be redressed.In Nungwi and Kiwengwa in Zanzibar,community resentment is so acute thatsome hotels employ guards to patroltheir water pipelines to prevent themfrom being vandalised. "The caves thatproduce water… are the property of our village, but they are colonised by the investors andthey do whatever they want", stated one villager. As tourism has accelerated, well water has28Agenda 21 is an action plan arising from the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.29Such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).43