scholarly journals Sustainable Tourism and the Grand Challenge of Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1966
Author(s):  
Daniel Scott

Global climate change represents a grand challenge for society, one that is increasingly influencing tourism sector investment, planning, operations, and demand. The paper provides an overview of the core challenges climate change poses to sustainable tourism, key knowledge gaps, and the state of preparedness in the tourism sector. As we begin what is widely considered a decisive climate decade, low sectoral preparedness should be highly disconcerting for the tourism community. Put bluntly, what we have done for the past 30 years has not prepared the sector for the next 30 years of accelerating climate change impacts and the transformation to a decarbonized global economy. The transition from two decades of awareness raising and ambition setting to a decade of determined collective response has massive knowledge requirements and necessitates broad sectoral commitments to: (1) improved communications and knowledge mobilization, (2) increased research capacity and interdisciplinary collaboration, and (3) strategic policy and planning engagement. We in the tourism and sustainability communities must answer this clarion call to shape the future of tourism in a decarbonized and post +3 °C world, for there can be no sustainable tourism if we fail on climate change.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén D. Manzanedo ◽  
Peter Manning

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak pandemic is now a global crisis. It has caused 1.6+ million confirmed cases and 100 000+ deaths at the time of writing and triggered unprecedented preventative measures that have put a substantial portion of the global population under confinement, imposed isolation, and established ‘social distancing’ as a new global behavioral norm. The COVID-19 crisis has affected all aspects of everyday life and work, while also threatening the health of the global economy. This crisis offers also an unprecedented view of what the global climate crisis may look like. In fact, some of the parallels between the COVID-19 crisis and what we expect from the looming global climate emergency are remarkable. Reflecting upon the most challenging aspects of today’s crisis and how they compare with those expected from the climate change emergency may help us better prepare for the future.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1347
Author(s):  
Kyriakos Maniatis ◽  
David Chiaramonti ◽  
Eric van den Heuvel

The present work considers the dramatic changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the global economy, with particular emphasis on energy. Focusing on the European Union, the article discusses the opportunities policy makers can implement to reduce the climate impacts and achieve the Paris Agreement 2050 targets. The analysis specifically looks at the fossil fuels industry and the future of the fossil sector post COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis first revises the fossil fuel sector, and then considers the need for a shift of the global climate change policy from promoting the deployment of renewable energy sources to curtailing the use of fossil fuels. This will be a change to the current global approach, from a relative passive one to a strategically dynamic and proactive one. Such a curtailment should be based on actual volumes of fossil fuels used and not on percentages. Finally, conclusions are preliminary applied to the European Union policies for net zero by 2050 based on a two-fold strategy: continuing and reinforcing the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive to 2035, while adopting a new directive for fixed and over time increasing curtailment of fossils as of 2025 until 2050.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenchen Ren ◽  
Xiuming Zhang ◽  
Stefan Reis ◽  
Jiaxin Jin ◽  
Jianming Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Maintaining food production while reducing agricultural pollution is a grand challenge under the threats of global climate change, which has exerted negative impacts on agricultural sustainability. How agricultural nitrogen use and loss respond to climate change is rarely understood. Here we show that climate change leads to inequality of cropland nitrogen use and loss across global regions based on historical data for the period 1961-2018 from 143 countries. Increases of yield, nitrogen surplus and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are identified in 30% of countries, while reductions are observed for the remaining 70% of countries, as a result of climate change. Farm size changes further intensify the inequality of nitrogen use and pollution in global croplands. Yet, enlarging farm size can facilitate climate change adaptation, by which global cropland NUE could be increased by one-third in 2100 compared to 2018 under future shared socioeconomic pathways. Our results would be of great significance to sustain global agriculture as well as eliminate national inequalities on food production and agricultural pollution control.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael MacLeod ◽  
Jacob Park

This article examines the nexus between financial activism and global environmental governance, analyzing the emergence of what we call “investor-driven governance networks” (IGNs). Our paper seeks to probe the significance of IGNs as a particular manifestation of responsible investor activism and more generally as a financial instrument of environmental governance and sustain-ability. We argue that IGNs, many of which are concerned with climate change governance, have become important actors in the global economy and deserve more analysis by scholars concerned with new forms of authority in global environmental politics. As an example of emerging transnational private governance, IGNs utilize the power of the financial sector to shape the discourse on climate change within the business community and to link the long-term viability of environmental sustainability to the core strategic interests of corporations and investors.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146879762098608
Author(s):  
Richard Sharpley

Sustainable tourism has remained the dominant tourism development paradigm within both academic and policy circles for more than three decades. However, little if any progress has been made towards implementing sustainable tourism in practice. Reflecting on this failure to achieve a more sustainable tourism sector, manifested not least in its increasing contribution to climate change, this paper argues that the problem lies in the continuing adherence to the economic growth model that underpins (sustainable) development policies in general and tourism development in particular. Highlighting the unsustainability of unabated growth, the paper goes on to suggest that the solution lies in the adoption of sustainable (reduced) levels of consumption. Yet, based on a recent exploratory study, voluntary limiting the consumption of tourism, even amongst the allegedly environmentally aware post-millennial generation, is an unlikely scenario. Hence, the path to sustainable tourism production and consumption lies only in effective regulation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
David Hodgkinson

Recent reports and papers reveal the scope of the global climate change problem. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics (2012) concludes the sum total of existing policies, in place or pledged, will very likely lead to warming in excess of 2°C. Additionally, a report from Vieweg et al (2012) concludes limiting global warming to below 2°C remains feasible if there is sufficient political ambition and action to introduce the required measures and policy changes now. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol have failed to address this climate change problem; other ways to address the problem should be considered. One alternative way forward would be to break the climate change problem into different pieces, to contemplate a more decentralised arrangement in which particular issues are discussed and negotiated—a regime complex, for example. Indeed, the UNFCCC regime may actually constrain agreement on addressing the climate change problem, and a shift away from a top-down, Kyoto-style architecture for international climate action—to a more bottom-up approach, with smaller agreements between particular groups of states and sectors—could result. An international LNG sectoral agreement could form part of such an approach, or as a stand-alone agreement, because natural gas offers the most immediate method of transitioning to a lower-emissions global economy. After examining the UNFCC/Kyoto regime and other approaches to, and frameworks for, addressing the climate change problem, this peer-reviewed paper outlines the nature of sectoral agreements and their advantages, together with the rationale for, and benefits of, a sectoral agreement for the LNG industry.


Author(s):  
Anna V. Chugunkova

As a part of global economy, forestry experiences influence of diverse factors and global climate change in particular, which can affect forestry directly or indirectly via changes in qualitative and quantitative assessment of forest growing stocks, and in positive or negative manner. Climate change effects on Russian forestry are still poorly studied and call for more attention in policy-making. One of the direct impacts is shortening of winter logging season duration, which may result in decreasing wood harvests. Using the data on logging volumes in Krasnoyarsk Krai and Irkutsk Oblast and estimated duration of winter logging season on meteorological stations for the retrospective period of 1966-2018, eight ARDL models were evaluated. The modeling results supported the idea of dependence of harvested wood volumes on winter logging season duration across all considered meteorological stations. To reduce negative impacts on logging industry in terms of wood harvest reduction, adaptation activities in forestry are sorely needed


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prachi Ugle Pimpalkhute

The Climate change action is a global call to everyone across the globe, but its action and involvement is not uniform everywhere. What would be the reason? Lack of uniform applicability and universities, academia, youth role in climate action at the negotiation table alongside corporate entities and other associated stakeholders. Universities are a source of seamless dissemination of knowledge, mobilization and capacity building. The educational organizations which includes the universities and other academic institutions are a bridge programme function for leveraging the learning to corporates and in turn with unified global climate action. Universities and academic institutions are where constant exchange of knowledge happens and are facilitators to build core competencies of varied stakeholders.


2016 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
pp. 1650006
Author(s):  
Jiahua PAN ◽  
Mou WANG ◽  
Yongxiang ZHANG ◽  
Zhe LIU ◽  
Xiaodan WU

Since the conclusion of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, a number of adjustments have been made in the patterns of international economy, trade, emissions, etc. Developing countries have increased rapidly in their share in global economy, trade as well as emissions, which led to some Parties to the Convention, mainly developed country Parties, faltering on their recognition of the responsibility system of the global response to climate change, and requiring developing countries to undertake responsibility for emission reduction and even financial assistance, intending to transfer obligations and costs in coping with climate change to developing countries. In fact, although the share of developing countries has increased in global economy, trade and emissions, the basic pattern that developed countries account for the absolute majority in cumulative CO2 emissions and control the international financial, trading, technology, and standard systems has not changed. The international responsibility system to deal with climate change has not changed fundamentally, either. Developed countries should continue to lead the global climate initiative, and provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries; developing countries should also take the path of low-carbon development while actively making full use of support from the international community in poverty alleviation and development process. At the Paris Climate Change Conference, Parties should participate in the negotiations with a constructive attitude, actively make planning and implement emission reduction actions, as well as build a fair and efficient financial mechanism, to promote climate-friendly technologies worldwide, establish an open and cooperative international trading system, and jointly facilitate the international cooperation on tackling climate change as a new momentum for global economic growth, so as to protect global climate security.


Author(s):  
Ying CHEN ◽  
Weiping SHEN

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has posed the most severe impact on the global economy and society since World War II. The pandemic has brought into focus how climate change is related with virus transmission and health, and has made the global transition toward low-carbon development more difficult and challenged the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Although the pandemic has significantly reduced carbon emissions and improved the environmental quality in the short term, it is still an unwanted event in the process of pursuing sustainable development; although objectively the pandemic has weakened countries’ efforts in terms of policies and actions to address climate change, the restructuring of global value chains in the post-COVID era has also brought new opportunities for a transition toward green and low-carbon development; although the pandemic has warned people of how important resilient governance and international cooperation is to addressing the crisis, the global climate governance process has come to a complete standstill since the outbreak of COVID-19, attenuating the mutual trust among countries and disabling the leadership in climate governance. The pandemic is a preview of the climate crisis, and it is important to learn from it for a better response. China quickly contained the pandemic within the country, actively resumed work and production, and gained a first-mover advantage in economic recovery. China should maintain strategic focus when pursuing ecological development, enhance the resilience of the socio-economic system, seize the opportunity of transitioning toward low-carbon development by turning the crisis into opportunities, and promote high-quality development within the country while fully engaging in global climate governance to seek ecological progress with other countries.


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