Credit Crisis NOTHING Compared to Climate Change say Pundits

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The current global financial crisis is "nothing" compared to the impact of climate change, Prince Charles warned last week as he called for urgent environmental protection measures. At the same time scientists indicated worst-case scenarios are probable, a hundred-month clock has been launched and the climate-change film ‘Age of Stupid’ premiered

"The global recession is far worse than any seen for generations," Prince Charles said, in Brazil, adding that growing demand for energy and food created the potential for "political uncertainty in every continent. He stressed: Any difficulties which the world faces today will be as nothing compared to the full effects which global warming will have on the world-wide economy."

"The threat of catastrophic climate change calls into question humanity’s continued survival on the planet."

This follows hard on the Copenhagen climate change summit. Messages issued by a writing team representing more than 1,600 scientists and other experts were stark. They say recent observations confirm that the “worst-case scenario trajectories” put forward by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just two years ago are already being realised.

Global surface temperature, sea-level rise, ice sheet dynamics, ocean acidification and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and typhoons – “the climate system is already moving beyond the patterns of natural variability within which our society and economy have developed and thrived”.

There is also “a significant risk that many of the trends will accelerate, leading to an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climatic shifts. Temperature rises above two degrees will be very difficult for contemporary societies to cope with, and will increase the level of climate disruption through the rest of the century.”

According to the scientists, “rapid, sustained and effective” measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions “based on co-ordinated global and regional action” is now required to avoid dangerous climate change.

Said Forum for the Future:
“Climate change will be significant for travel and tourism regardless of the outcomes of Copenhagen. Whilst waiting for our global leaders to come up with a satisfactory shared approach we need to prepare ourselves for the inevitable low carbon future.

Low carbon holidays are a real opportunity for the industry. They will save money as carbon becomes more expensive and help customers reduce their own carbon footprints. The pioneers in the industry are already responding to the urgent challenge of climate change – Six Senses aim to be zero carbon by 2020, and the WTTC members have committeed to at least a 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. Our report Paradise Found PARADISE FOUND
shows that there are lots of low carbon options already out there for the tourism industry – from sustainable construction of hotels and overland travel to alternative low carbon energy sources. We also need to act now to reduce the impact of our travelling, to go local and overland and find more efficient technologies for flying longer haul.

Carbon gives the industry a burning platform, but there is also mounting evidence that it makes sound business sense to act now despite the recession. According to management consultancy A T Kearney, the companies that are serious about sustainability are currently achieving above-average performance in the financial markets. Over the six-month period from May to November last year – exactly when the markets spiralled downwards – the companies with the sustainability credentials outperformed the market average by 15%. Factors such as eco-efficiency gains, strong compliance and governance regimes, sound risk management and green innovations are all contributing to the outperformance of the sustainability leaders. It it makes good business sense, helps with recession ready strategies and anticipates governement action then it is surely worth doing."

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