Introduction
Sustainability in the context of tourism has been of interest to researchers for several decades whereas climate change in relation to tourism has been debated largely only since the late 1990s (although some sources prior to this period exist). Generally, sustainability issues are given relatively less focus when the two most recent decades are compared, and the need for clearer and stronger inclusion within the current climate change discussion has been highlighted. Climate change issues have been largely given focus in the tourism literature since 2000, though more adaptation and mitigation measures are needed to reduce the contribution of the tourism industry to emissions, estimated to be from 5 to 14 per cent of emissions if measured as radioactive forcing (Simpson et al. 2008). Increased coverage of climate change topics is evident not only in tourism but also in research related to mainstream environment and natural resources. For example, out of the 1,961 World Bank projects with an âenvironment and natural resources managementâ theme, the percentage of projects with a pollution and environmental health theme has remained flat or declined, whereas the percentage of projects with sub-themes of biodiversity and/or climate change have recorded a threefold increase (10 per cent to almost 30 per cent) between 1983 and 2008 (Tallis et al. 2008). Several of the recent international conferences encourage researchers, planners and policy makers to approach and tackle sustainability and climate change aspects together.
The First International Forum on âSustainability, Climate Change and Tourismâ, organized at the Bournemouth University in 2009 emphasized the need to approach climate change and sustainability aspects for the long-term viability of the tourism industry. Scott (2011: 28) also stressed âhow tourism responds to climate change is absolutely critical to sustainability of tourism and should the sector retreat from engagement in climate change, it would be to its substantial detrimentâ. In the light of the green economy debate, it has become essential to look at these issues as two sides of the same coin.
This edited book endeavours to link some of the current research, upcoming methods and research directions in these fields. This chapter aims to review the key international conferences and global agreements that have been shaping our ideas in this direction whilst analysing the transition of sustainability concept since Stockholm 1972 to the forthcoming Rio+20 (June 2012), leading to the green economy approach of low carbon and poverty reduction measures. The final sections of this chapter outline the content of the book that has been arranged to publish some of the recent conceptual debates, responses of organizations at all levels and the emerging techniques and research implications.
Sustainable development: shifts in the focus based on global priorities and our understanding of the concept
From 1972 to 2012, the focus of the sustainability paradigm has shifted based on the global necessities (see Figure 1.1). As debated by many, the concept of sustainable development evolved through the convergence of economic development theory and environmentalism. Environmentalism emerged in the late 19th century when a change in perception saw people valuing the spiritual properties of the landscape over the material, and the national parks began to be established in Australia and North America (Hardy and Beeton 2001; Hardy, Beeton and Pearson 2001). The nascent environmentalism of the 1960s and 1970s was reflected in specific concerns about the environmental consequences of tourism development at that time (Dowling 1992). Authors such as the contributors to Butler and Jenkins, (1998), Hall and Lew (1998), Miller and Twining-Ward (2005), Lane (2009) and Weaver (2006, 2009) have highlighted the evolution of sustainability concept and its application in tourism.
In many destinations worldwide, tourism was found to be in conflict with the environment, along with detrimental social impacts. The concepts of ecological limits, resource use and management and carrying capacities have been found to be appropriate to apply in tourism (Sharpley and Telfer, 2002), before tourismâs inclination towards sustainability. Research into the impacts of tourism (well documented by Mathieson and Wall 1989, 2006 and Mason 2003, while Lea 1988, Harrison 1992, 2001, and Mowforth and Munt 1998, 2003 explored them with reference to less-developed countries) has embraced the well-established academic pursuit of examining, defining and assessing the applicability of mainstream concepts of sustainable development to the specifications of tourism and recreation (Sharpley and Telfer 2002). âAs with many other forms of economic activity, tourism has become inextricably linked with the concept of sustainable tourism and much attention has been paid to âsustainable tourismââ (Hall and Lew, 1998: 7). At the same time, as Hardy and Beeton (2001: 169) commented on the global economy scenario of the 1960s and 1970s, âthe failure of economic models to stimulate growth in developing countries and alleviate poverty highlighted the need for alternative economic development models, which would take into account the ecological consequences of economic expansionâ. Although there were improvements in finding new economic and environmental development methodologies, there was a growing concern for a new approach, which finally emerged as the âsustainable developmentâ concept. The first UN Conference on Human Environment 1972 in Stockholm had first discussed the fundamental pillars of sustainability (Figure 1.1).
The 1972 Stockholm Conference
The Stockholm Conference proclaimed the need for the protection and improvement of the human environment on which the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world is centred. It first raised awareness that social well-being, economic development and environmental conservation are the three pillars of sustainability (UNEP 2012). The Limits to Growth report (Meadows et al. 1972) for the Club of Rome (a global think tank established in 1968) explored a number of scenarios, and stressed the choices open to society to reconcile sustainable progress with environmental constraints. With its focus on long-term vision and provocative scenarios, the report sold more than 12 million copies in some 30 languages worldwide, creating a high global impact at several levels, according to the Club of Rome website (www.clubofrome.org). The later setting-up of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the publication of its World Conservation Strategy in 1982 increased global attention to biodiversity conservation. In view of the ever-growing threat to environmental health and the lack of progress towards sustainability, the IUCN works towards achieving biodiversity conservation and to initiate programmes of action.
The 1987 Brundtland Commission
By the late 1980s sustainable development was affirmed as the solution to global challenges, and the concept gained real meaning and definition after the publication of a report on Our Common Future in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (also widely known as Brundtland Commission since it was headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland, then Norwegian prime minister) (United Nations 1987). It firmly defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Aronsson 2000). The Brundtland Commission report submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations addressed most common concerns, including symptoms and causes of a threatened future; the links between environment, development, population and human resources; the signs of food security crisis and challenges; extinction patterns and trends of species and ecosystems; the dilemma and upcoming problems of energy choices (fossil, wood, nuclear and renewable) and conservation measures; sustaining industrial growth â producing more with less; growth of cities and challenges; managing the commons (oceans, space and Antarctica) and global cooperation: peace, security, institutional and legal challenges.
FIGURE 1.1 Sustainable development: shifts in the focus based on global priorities
The 1992 Earth Summit
The 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development was the next major event, organized in Rio de Janeiro following the Brundtland Commission recommendations. The Earth Summit webpage (United Nations 1997) summarizes that the Rio summit adopted three major agreements aimed at changing the traditional approach to sustainable development:
- Agenda 21â a comprehensive programme of action for global action in all areas of sustainable development
- the Rio Declaration on Environment and Developmentâ a series of principles defining the rights and responsibilities of states
- the Statement of Forest Principlesâ a set of principles to underlie the sustainable management of forests worldwide.
In addition, two legally binding conventions aimed at preventing global climate change and the eradication of the diversity of biological species: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity (United Nations 1997).
The role of tourism for sustainable development was realized more after the 1992 Rio summit, with recommendations for the tourism industry to adopt the Agenda 21 principles. Bosselman, Peterson and McCarthy (1999: 113) stated that although the sustainable development concept âgrew, out of research, concerning the rapidly escalating world population, industrial expansion, and the related growth in pollutionâ, attention towards its specific implications for tourism were discussed only in 1995. Soon after the 1992 Rio summit, the 1995 Lanzarote Conference (held in the Canary Islands, and attended by a large group of delegates from various governments, decision makers and tourism experts) drafted two documents âThe sustainable tourism plan of actionâ and âCharter for sustainable tourismâ, that outlined âhow tourism should be controlled so that it can be included in the global strategy for sustainable development with special strategies and proposals for actionâ (Aronsson 2000). Subsequently sustainable tourism was pursued by a wide range of researchers at all levels in many countries, and is often disseminated in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. According to Weaver (2006), the 1996 Bellagio Conference also discussed issues associated with tourism sustainability, specifically as its principles stressed the need to have a âclear performance for comprehensive model in advocating a holistic, systems-based approach of sustainability that takes an adequate spatial and temporal scope into accountâ (p. 31), something that was examined by several researchers.
The 2002 Earth Summit 2
These global summits also imparted varied opinions about the changing perspectives of sustainable development based on global priorities. For instance, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (dubbed the Earth Summit 2) had broad objectives to reach to a range of goals on poverty eradication, health issues, preserving the environment and achieving a political declaration aimed at reinvigorating political commitment to sustainable development. The summit also assessed the global situation and progress in implementing the international agreements adopted at Rio in 1992 and Stockholm in 1972. The summit brought together tens of thousands of participants, including heads of state and government, national delegates and leaders from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), businesses and other major groups to focus the worldâs attention and direct action toward meeting difficult challenges, including improving peopleâs lives and conserving our natural resources in a world that is growing in population, with ever-increasing demands for food, water, shelter, sanitation, energy, health services and economic security (United Nations 2006). Without doubt the summit gave more emphasis to the Millennium Development Goals. From the tourism point of view, the summit emphasized that sustainability of tourism should be a priority due to its potential contribution to poverty alleviation and environmental protection in critically endangered ecosystems (Fennell 2003).
Sustainable tourism â application by scholars
Besides the growing synergy between sustainable development and sustainable tourism, the debates on contemporary tourism planning approaches by various authors (e.g. Cooper et al. 1998, Butler et al. 1998, Butler and Boyd 2000, Hall 2000) started to incorporate sustainability principles more strongly. Resource management techniques and tourism planning ...
