This summer, temperatures broke global records for the second year in a row, putting 2024 on track to be the hottest year in recorded history. Wildfires have hit communities around the world, from California to Greece. Meanwhile, hurricane season is slamming the Caribbean and communities in the United States and Mexico. Recently, Hurricane Helene devastated parts of North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia, and earlier this year, before the official start of the season, Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc on multiple islands, including several whose economies rely heavily on tourism, such as Grenada, Barbados, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
It’s within this context that tourism industry leaders across the globe are calling for a more nuanced and urgent response to climate change.
“Aside from the social, ethical, and environmental imperatives to act, travel and tourism businesses should also consider the impacts on their operations,” leaders wrote in a report entitled “Climate Justice in Tourism,” which was released in mid-August. The authors emphasized that the climate crisis impacts everyone in the travel and tourism industry, from locals and travelers to tourism companies.
After all, the travel industry supports the income of almost one in 10 people and around 10 percent of global GDP. With climate change threatening the infrastructure of popular destinations, as well as the natural and cultural assets that they’re known for, the economies of these communities are at risk.
Crafted in collaboration with the Travel Foundation, the University of Waterloo, Tourism Cares, the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), and Cuidadores de Destinos, and with support from Expedia Group, the report is meant to serve as an introductory guide for mid-size and larger travel businesses. It outlines a plan of attack to address global warming through a climate justice lens that calls out the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses.
What is climate justice?
Climate justice places equity at the core of its approach to handling the climate crisis. It means putting the most impacted communities in a leadership role, while recognizing that they’re often the ones least responsible for emitting greenhouse gasses.
The report explains that certain groups, particularly large corporations and wealthier nations, are far bigger polluters, but it’s smaller nations with fewer resources that suffer the consequences. Caribbean nations, for example, are being increasingly hit with hurricanes, while rising sea levels are threatening communities in countries from Fiji to Panama. The report argues that these countries are often left out of conversations on how to tackle climate change and its ramifications.
“For us it is a matter for adaptation rather than mitigation as we do not produce as much greenhouse gasses as the developed countries,” said Dr. Adelle Blair, Sustainable Tourism Officer for Antigua and Barbuda, via email. “The large emitters of greenhouse gasses for the most part acknowledge their role but do little to mitigate the impacts.”
One of her biggest worries is “that our beaches will be lost to sea level rise and coastal erosion. Our hotels could face serious negative impacts from more frequent hurricanes, reducing [their] resilience.”
Dr. Blair goes as far as to suggest that “the developed countries responsible for anthropogenic climate change” (i.e., changes to the climate caused by humans) should compensate the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for any investments in adaptation methods. SIDS refers to a group of 39 countries around the world, along with 18 associate members of the United Nations, with unique vulnerabilities, both due to size and economic status.
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett agrees that countries with the largest emissions must step up their efforts, while his country will continue to do its part in increasing sustainable practices. “They have tremendous responsibility and power to make significant changes in the fight against climate change,” he wrote in an email. “By reducing greenhouse emissions and increasing renewable energy sources, recycling programs, sustainable farming, and overall education on sustainable practices, these countries will lead us on a successful path of resurgence and resilience in tackling climate change.”
What can be done?
While developed countries with large carbon outputs can make some of the most dramatic changes in the fight against climate change, the report argues that travel businesses in vulnerable communities can be part of the solution as well. To that end, the authors highlight companies that already have practices rooted in climate justice—and that can inspire further change and progress.
In Oklahoma, a group of community activists has developed a “toxic tour” near Route 66 to educate visitors on the impact of lead and zinc mining, especially for the Quapaw Tribal Nation. Meanwhile in Cairns, Australia, Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel leads diving enthusiasts to the Great Barrier Reef on tours that tap into traditional Indigenous perspectives on the cultural significance of the reef. In both cases, the operators hope to educate travelers on the changing climate.
For individual tourism businesses, the report offers several suggestions for sustainable practices at every level from operations and supply chain to product design and community engagement. It also identifies ways in which the travel industry can begin to tackle climate change on a larger, more collaborative scale. Recommendations include incentives for investing in and marketing sustainable products; a levy for frequent fliers to pay; and the creation of an international fund that would help build resilience in the most vulnerable communities.
“The tourism industry has a remarkable ability to recover and drive economic growth, especially when working together as one,” said Bartlett, who has long advocated for initiatives similar to those in the climate justice report. He believes that collaborative international effort and funding will ensure that vulnerable communities “are not only prepared for future crises but are also empowered to leverage tourism as a sustainable development tool.”
