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Sustainable tourism : a global challenge
Richard TAPPER - UNEP Expert, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, UNEP, Paris, France

Introduction

First of all, let me say how pleased I am to participate in this Tourism Summit roundtable on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This Summit is very timely as tourism, already one of the world's largest industries, continues to increase rapidly. I will outline UNEP's views on the state of the world environment, on the effects of tourism in relation to the environment, and on the partnerships that can be developed to address the challenges before us in the tourism sector.

UNEP has three main roles :

To identify problems in the environment ;

To develop solutions to those problems ; and

To catalyse action to implement those solutions.

In undertaking these roles, UNEP works extensively with other partners.

Within UNEP, the mission of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, directed by Mrs. Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, is to :

Encourage decision makers in government, local authorities, industry to adopt policies, strategies, practices that :

are cleaner and safer

make efficient use of natural resources

ensure environmentally sound management of chemicals

incorporate environmental costs

reduce pollution and risks for humans & environment

Global Environment Outlook 2000

In September 1999, Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP and the former environment minister of Germany, launched the Global Environment Outlook 2000 (GEO-2000), describing the key challenges facing us. Based on contributions from UN agencies, 850 individuals and 30 environmental institutes, GEO-2000 outlines progress in tackling existing problems and points to serious new threats. Its key finding is that: "The continued poverty of the majority of the planet's inhabitants and excessive consumption by the minority are the two major causes of environmental degradation. The present course is unsustainable and postponing action is no longer an option."

Klaus Töpfer has added that "Despite successes on various fronts, time for a rational, well-planned transition to a sustainable system is running out fast".

The challenge that GEO 2000 sets out is for us to fundamentally change our approaches for the future, and to abandon the ways of the past that have created the problems that now face us.

There has been progress - but environmental gains are being overtaken by population growth and increased consumption. As a result :

current resource use is unsustainable,

the Earth's carrying capacity is threatened,

environmental degradation is continuing, and

the poverty gap is widening.

Amongst the major environmental problems identified in GEO 2000 are :

Climate change,

Water scarcity and contamination,

Loss of biodiversity,

Soil degradation, and

Contamination by persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals.

Environmental threats to tourism

These problems are threats to tourism. Beaches and mountains, rivers, forests and biological diversity make the environment a basic resource upon which the tourism industry depends to thrive and grow.

Environmental degradation is a threat to the viability of the tourism industry. Let me give some examples :

a) Global warming can threaten tourism in coastal areas and small Island Developing States from rises in sea level. In ski resorts, snow conditions can become less reliable as many speakers have noted at this Tourism Summit. And climate change related catastrophes, such as the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, affect tourism as much as other sectors of the economy ;

b) Loss of biological diversity and loss of landscape attractiveness affect a number of tourist destinations. For example, in the Mediterranean over 500 plant species are threatened with extinction, and tourism has decreased in some overbuilt destinations ;

c) Water pollution damages tourism, as well as contaminating the freshwater supply. Lack of freshwater will increasingly be a constraint for tourism development ;

d) Local air pollution linked to urban congestion can discourage tourists from visiting some destinations.

Environmental costs related to tourism

Given its scale and global extent, it is inevitable that tourism also has important environmental impacts of its own. As well as suffering from the problems described above, tourism itself also contributes to them, as we have heard at this Tourism Summit.

Activities associated with tourism can have adverse environmental effects including :

air pollution from transportation ;

ecological damage from construction of roads and tourism facilities ;

water contamination from solid wastes and sewage.

Adverse environmental impacts of tourism can be summarised as :

pressure on natural resources ;

harm to wildlife and habitats, with associated loss of biodiversity ;

generation of pollution and wastes ; and

social and cultural pressures that affect the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

But the development of tourism has benefits as well as costs. Tourism can contribute to socio-economic development and conservation significantly. It can offer a real alternative to other more obviously detrimental forms of development, and provides apowerful economic argument for protecting the environment. For example, in the Caribbean, divers attracted by healthy coral reefs account for 20 % of the region's tourism revenue; and in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef generates more than Aus $1 billion per year in tourism revenue.

Sustainable tourism

The concept of Sustainable Development provides a framework for more balanced decision-making with a longer-term focus. Sustainable development means living on the "interest" provided by the earth's natural capital, not on the capital itself. It means looking at three dimensions: economic, social and environmental.

Sustainable tourism is an approach that puts the environment, as well as social considerations, at the core of the decision making process of all those involved in tourism development and activities - government officials, national and local leaders, private sector managers and developers, and financiers - throughout the tourism sector. These decision-makers have a shared responsibility to make tourism sustainable.

There is much agreement on the core features of sustainable tourism, even though there is still debate about some of the finer detail. We believe that it is important to act now on the areas of agreement, and therefore the 1999 session of UNEP's Governing Council proposed key Principles for the Implementation of Sustainable Tourism. The 17 principles are summarised under four headings :

1. Integration of Tourism into Overall Policy for Sustainable Development

To achieve this requires national strategies that balance tourism with other economic activities, backed by coordination and integrated management between all agencies involved in tourism, to avoid the problems that are created by fragmented responsibilities and decision making. It also requires recognition that tourism development can conflict with other existing resource uses, and user groups - and that such resource conflicts must be resolved.

2. Development of Sustainable Tourism

This covers planning - especially land-use planning - and environmental impact assessment. Both are essential for creating sustainable tourism, and need to be linked to a clear legal framework and control measures, as well as to local and regional environmental standards.

3. Management of Tourism

Putting sustainable tourism into practice requires initiatives from the tourism industry as well as from the public sector, and the use of environmentally sound technologies for tourism (such as energy conservation, 'grey water' and waste recycling). It also requires monitoring to measure progress, and compliance procedures to ensure that all problems are detected and corrected.

4. Conditions for Success

And finally, for the success of sustainable tourism initiatives, it is important to involve all stakeholders - especially those in the local community and employees - and to ensure that benefits are spread equitably; to exchange information about best practices and to report publicly on progress ; and to provide capacity building support to give all stakeholders the skills they need in making tourism sustainable.

Introducing sustainability into the tourism sector

There are business, as well as environmental, benefits to be gained from a change to sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism seeks to reduce the risk of environmental damage and the adverse consequences this has for tourism. It gives, when it is more than just paying lip service, a good image. It lies at the heart of future competitiveness in tourism. It is therefore important to make sure that the quality of sustainable development on the part of tourism companies and destinations, is recognised as a valued and major part of the quality of tourism.

Adapting to change is not an easy process and contributing to Sustainable Development is a key challenge for each organisation involved in tourism, whether in the private or the public sector, and for tourism as a whole.

Important efforts to address issues of environment and sustainable development in relation to tourism have been undertaken in some areas. For example :

within the tourism industry, environmentally sound management of hotels is being widely promoted, especially for larger hotels ;

some local and national Governments have begun to make significant investments in sewage treatment and waste disposal facilities to cope with the wastes generated by tourism, and also to control new tourism developments and tourism volume ;

some local communities have begun to develop their own forms of community-based tourism, as a means of economic development that also protects the environment on which they depend ;

a variety of codes of conduct and voluntary initiatives have been adopted by part of the tourism industry, and award schemes and ecolabels have also been launched.

However, the effectiveness of these efforts is often not fully monitored, making it difficult to evaluate the results achieved through them.

It is also evident that the majority of efforts in the tourism industry are currently being concentrated on limited, easily achievable goals and simple housekeeping measures. They are often limited to a relatively few companies, countries or stakeholder groups.

At present, short-term economic gain still drives much of the development of tourism worldwide. This needs to be replaced by a longer-term perspective, and by integration of social and environmental considerations fully and effectively in the planning, location and operation of tourism facilities and infrastructures. Sustainable tourism initiatives have to become wdespread within the industry.

Governments have a central role to play in promoting sustainable development and in setting proper policy and goals for this through the regulatory framework. To do so effectively, progress towards sustainable development of tourism needs to be monitored, and corrective action taken where necessary.

Just as importantly, in a market economy Governments have to make the market work adequately today, as the price of the products does not reflect the cost of their impact on the environment. A lot of perverse incentives are orienting choices towards a scale of tourism development and activity which is not sustainable. The inclusion of environmental costs in the costing of energy and water in particular could expedite greatly ecoefficiency in the tourism industry and raise revenue for the improved management of those resources. Governments should seriously consider the development and widespread use of economic instruments for sustainable tourism.

To make progress with effective solutions, all groups must act together.

Making tourism sustainable is a shared responsibility. In this, national and local governments, and the tourism industry, have key roles.

First of all, the Tourism Industry has begun to make progress, and some tourism companies have already demonstrated a strong commitment to making their operations sustainable. However, this is the exception, not the rule. Key tasks for the industry are therefore to :

Spread sustainable tourism initiatives :

implement environmental management and environmentally sound technologies widely (eg. to reduce energy use, to recycle wastes or avoid waste generation) ;

address siting and more ecoefficient design of tourism facilities ; and

adopt more challenging targets ;

Encourage environmentally responsible behaviour by companies, thesupply chain and by tourists ;

Support sustainable development in destinations - for example, bydeveloping partnerships with local communities in destinations, and promote involvement of local stakeholders in tourism ventures; and working with Governments and others to improve the overall environmental quality of destinations ; and to

Report publicly on environmental performance.

Promoting implementation of sustainable tourism - UNEP's activities

As I mentioned at the beginning of my talk, one of UNEP's three central roles is to catalyse action to implement solutions to environmental problems. UNEP therefore works to engage and support the various stakeholders in implementation of responses to improve environmental protection and promote sustainable development. To this end, UNEP helps to raise awareness, to share information and experience, and to transfer environmentally sound technologies. UNEP also helps with the development of monitoring and reporting procedures to track environmental performance.

Through a variety of international and regional programmes, UNEP is actively working with partners to promote sustainable tourism and put these principles into practice. The Lanzarote Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Developing States which UNEP set up last year, with the World Tourism Organisation and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), is one example of this.

UNEP also actively promotes best practices in the tourism industry. To this end, UNEP has established a partnership with the World TourismOrganisation and UNESCO, and committed tour operators, to prepare the Tour Operator Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development. Through the Initiative, which will be launched in March next year, at the International Tourism Bourse in Berlin, participating tour operators will work towards integrating environmental, social and cultural considerations into their activities and operations; adopting best practices in the management of sustainable tourism; and creating awareness among their customers and partners of actions that they can also take to promote sustainable tourism.

In partnership with organisations in the tourism sector, UNEP produces a range of handbooks on good practices in tourism to help decisionmakers in the public and private sectors. These have already raised awareness and stimulated gains in management and eco-efficiency in the tourism sector.

And through UNEP's Regional Offices, training programmes on cleaner production and environmentally-sound management in tourism are underway in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

For example, working with Caribbean Action for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), an organisation set up by the private sector to implement environmental programmes, which include production of an Environmental Management Tool Kit, and publication of a news bulletin in cooperation with UNEP's Regional Office.

UNEP is working on specific initiatives for management of tourism in sensitive areas and ecosystems, with IUCN, and with the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) on tourism management and coral reefs - a particularly urgent task given the widespread outbreaks of coral bleaching. Another example is an initiative between UNEP and the Ecotourism Society to prepare guidelines for Marine Ecotourism. And in 13 different regions, involving over 140 participating countries, UNEP's Regional Seas Programmes provide support to countries on tourism along with other issues.

Conclusion

Long-term prosperity and well-being come through actions that contribute to a healthy environment and a healthy society, at the same time as they also contribute to a healthy economy. Sustainable tourism means minimising the negative and maximising the positive impacts. At present, short-term economic gain is still driving much of the development of tourism worldwide. This needs to be replaced by a longer-term perspective, and by integration of social and environmental considerations more fully and effectively, for example, in the planningand siting of tourism facilities and infrastructures.

To finish, I will summarise key points in the context of sustainabletourism which have been made at this Tourism Summit :

Prices are too low, as many economists have told us, and this results in overuse of resources leading to environmental damage ;

Diversification is vital of both tourism provision and the economic base generally for long-term sustainability in tourism destinations ;

The principle of precaution has to be applied ;

Change is possible - the destinations such as Calvia - Mallorca and others which have made presentations at this Tourism Summit show that an enormous amount can be achieved where there is a real will to change. The Tour Operator Initiative that UNEP is launching in March 2000 with private sector tour operators is another example, as is UNEP's work with the hotel sector on the phase out of ozone depleting chemicals and on environmental improvements ;

Tourism supply and demand must be matched - this requires promotion of forms of tourism that are more supportive of integrated development in destinations ;

Environmental limits and environmental change are realities, and have to be factored fully into tourism - new developments, existing activities, and restoration of damage.

In conclusion, sustainable tourism is possible. It is good for the tourism industry, for tourists, and above all for fair development in destination countries. We already have a map for making tourism sustainable. The challenge is now for all those involved in tourism to travel with that map ! To spread excellent initiatives for sustainable tourism throughout the industry, to monitor progress, to set more challenging goals. The message today is clear for all of us: we can and must change course to make tourism sustainable.

Thank you.