We vote for global warming with our rear ends

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Carbon rationing is the fairest way but BOS count NOW

The fact is that often I’m in a quandary. Week after week I report stories about sustainable tourism, and obviously they often include references to global warming and carbon emissions.

Like everybody else in the developed world, I guess I’m at fault to some extent. And I travel.

My colleague Professor Stefan Gossling, who I admire and respect, is quite categorical about it – he says that if we don’t do something quite dramatic in the next few years we’re looking forward to global warming over the 4 degrees when things get really crazy.

He also says that tourism’s input is more than the 5% usually quoted and it’s more like double figures. He should know, of course, as he’s probably the world’s leading authority on tourism and climate change. SEE:www.travelmole.com/stories/1144956.php

So, as I carry on with life much as usual, I wonder what we are going to do.

Actually, of course, ‘we’ is lots of ‘you’s and ‘me’s – so the question is “what can I do?”

Even more importantly “what DO I do?”

As it happens, I’m very lucky. I live in the country within reasonable distance of a big town so my local transport options (foot and bus) are pretty easy. I’m almost zero waste (how and when I was brought up, I guess) and as most of my food comes from a 2 mile radius, it doesn’t have much of a carbon footprint either.

However, I do travel. A lot. It’s part of the job. Sustainable tourism takes place all over the world and one needs to see it to report it properly.

And make no mistake about it – sustainability is not just about environmental sustainability – there are hundreds of thousands of people in destinations who would actually starve without tourism.

Because of time restraints, I get to places as quickly as I can that is, often by air.

Which then leads me to that horrific argument: “Well, it’s going anyway, what difference does one passenger make?”

In the travel and tourism industry we know that argument is absolute and total rubbish – in these days of yield management load factors are pored over with such dedication that if just a few passengers didn’t travel – no flight anymore. And no carbon emissions or carbon forcing (what air travel does) either.

So what have I had to do (with the occasional cowardly carbon offset) is to dramatically reduce my short haul flying. My once a month flight to Scotland is now train and I get barracked about going to Morocco by air to save 6 days train travel (and a better experience).

What have I saved in emissions? Probably not a lot. But my 24 single sectors have saved maybe one flight over 2 years. Yes of course the prices will go up – but is that such a bad thing?

And my train trips have helped the marketing efforts of the train companies. Please God it will help them improve their service and distribution too.

Valere Tjolle

Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite latest information at www.travelmole.com/stories/1146007.php

Read the story about Dr Gossling’s latest book about carbon management in tourism: www.travelmole.com/stories/1144956.php