Up in the Air

Birdsong in England, Hot Air in Washington & Bubbles in the Arctic - what's the connection?

I write this sitting quietly in a log cabin located in the midst of a lush and quintessentially English cottage garden. It's misty outside but the song birds are celebrating the close of another magnificent and a seemingly normal Spring day. So far this year, we've experienced a normal set of seasons - a cold winter, windy and showery spring and prospects of a hot summer ahead. Even Wimbledon is prepared with its new roof and there'll be strawberries and cream as usual with the chance to forget the financial meltdown - even while another meltdown continues to take place with disproportionately less fanfare and sense of gloom. It's in this context that a growing sense of complacency within the business community, and especially the tourism community, regarding the climate change threat, should come as no surprise. The financial crisis, the ensuing recession and the dramatic declines in visitors, revenues and yields have diverted our attention to less scary, more familiar issues.

Next week, the American travel industry will launch yet another campaign extolling the virtues of travel with the headline "Travel Matters!" suggesting that travel can be the primary engine of economic recovery and is good for our health.  The Q & A sheet in support of the campaign complains that business travel has been "mischaracterized" and makes the following arguments in defence of leisure travel:

Leisure travel is important because it’s essential to good health. Travelers rate their overall health one full point higher (on a scale of 1 to 5) while on vacation. And they receive three times more sleep after vacations and sleep almost 20 minutes longer. An annual vacation can cut a person’s risk of heart attack by 50 percent.

Of course "travel matters" but so does health care, the production of quality yet affordable food, the care of our elderly, the education and safety of our young etc. If the slogan was "Travel Cares" and was backed with the actions that tourism is taking to address the real issues facing humanity right now, I could back it.

In the meantime, "nature" knows nothing of our human issues.Nature simply obeys implacable laws with no regard to their impacts on our human psyches and what we consider to be our well being. Nature simply and relentlessly adapts. And adaptation is what is happening in the Arctic. As temperatures rise and more ice melts so the gazillions of microbes embedded in the permafrost start to feed on the decaying vegetable matter trapped beneath the surface. Their process of consumption - like ours - emits waste but their waste (methane gas)  is 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than Co2.

If you harboured any lngering doubts that climate change would seriously and intensively affect your life or that of your children, then think again and read this article or watch the video from the LA Times last week . Bubbles of warming, beneath the ice - Los Angeles Times.

Methane is one of the wild cards that the IPCC scientists recognized as potentially aggravating the problem but did not,  dare not, include in their forecasts.

Moral of this tale? If we want to enjoy the birdsong and avoid the bubbles. we'll need more than rhetoric and hot air......

Canada Behind the Eight Ball on GHG Research and Policy

The Icarus Foundation is grateful to Chris Lyle, Chief Executive of Montreal-based Air Transport Economics and Representative of UNWTO to ICAO for the following informative article on aviation policy as its relates to carbon emissions.

Having been excluded from the Kyota Protocol, aviation will be attract significant attention at the climate change negotiations occurring in Copenhagen in December 2009. It's vital that each tourism destination understand the issues at stake and be able to contribute intelligently to the discussion. We thank Chris for helping our understanding of the issues involved and encourage our readers to contribute to the discussion. Chris has helpfully identified nine tasks that need to be undertaken in Canada - which ones do you think you can best support?

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Aviation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions - What's Canada's Position?
Chris Lyle, Air Transport Economics

The Maldives, a low lying archipelago in the Indian Ocean, a tourism paradise destination country less than 1 metre in average altitude has recently announed a goal of becoming "carbon neutral."

VANOC is propounding a "carbon neutral" 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

What do these and many other climate mitigation initiatives have in common? .....for more, download paper here.

BC Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Now Staffed!

Back in October of last year the British Columbia Government announced the formation and finding of the BC Partnership for Sustainable Tourism designed to:

1. Establish best practices for sustainability specific to tourism businesses;
2. Develop and implement a certification program for “green” tourism operators;
3. Set up a system for tracking and reporting sustainable tourism indicators;
4. Offer practical carbon calculators for small and medium-sized tourism enterprises;
5. Embark on communications and outreach for businesses and travellers; and
6. Hold workshops across the province to educate businesses on carbon emission strategies and best practices.

The partnership received initial funding of $560,000 from: the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, the Climate Actions Secretariat, COTA, Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC, Tourism Vancouver, BC Hotel Association and the BC Sustainable Tourism Collective.

Those persons that worked so hard to put such a fine collaboration together and their respective organisations should be applauded as true agents of change. The founders of the Icarus Foundation wish them well and hope we can work together to make tourism in BC truly sustainable, prosperously low carbon and a model for other Canadian provinces.

Our support and encouragement are also extended to Judy Adams, the new Managing Director and Valerie Sheppherd, Senior Manager, Sustainability Program Manager.

Judy Adams, formerly CEO or Essential Strategy and prior to that a senior employee within Fairmont Hotels with direct responsibilities for fostering sustainbility practices is ideally suited for this leadership position as is Valerie Sheppard who made such a significant contribution to the Ministry's thinking and action on sustainability. Good times ahead - despite the recession! We wish you every success.

Keeping Your Eye on the Ball

Soccer coaches tell their player to "keep their eye on the ball" and management professors teach " if you can't measure it, you can't manage it". That's why climate change could actually  help us move towards sustainability. In the same way that the speedometer in a car serves to indicate when we are driving dangerously fast, a measure of CO2 concentrations serves to indicate whether our actions are leading us towards safety or danger.

If humanity is to make the transition to a society and an economy that operate in harmony with nature's immutable laws, then we all need to become more ecologically literate. There are two numbers to learn and bear in mind when reading the mass of literature on this topic:

• 2 degrees centigrade
• 350 parts per million.

The first number relates to what the International Panel on Climate Change considers the maximum increase in average global temperature over pre-industrial levels which could be considered safe to humans. Increases beyond that global average would result in affects that are considered "dangerous". There's considerable debate still as to whether the 2 degree figure is, in fact, either safe or optimistic, but that's another story for another post.

The second figure relates to a concentration of CO2 in the earth's atmosphere. While the CO2 gas is invisible to the naked eye and easily forgotten or ignored, scientists have learned to measure CO2 concentrations with considerable accuracy. The science, at this point,  is relatively simple - the more CO2 that is emitted, the more is concentrated in the atmosphere and the less heat can escape.  So again the critical question is what atmospheric CO2 is safe? In April 2008, ten scentists led by James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies stated that the upper ceiling should not exceed 350 parts per million. Every year that passes in which we allow concentrations to exceed that number and grow in magnitude exacerbates the problem and requires more drastic cuts in emissions.  Or to be more clear - to get atmospheric CO2 to decline to the safe side of 350 ppm, global emissions have to be virtually eliminated.

So instead of looking at the speed guage in your car, or following  interest rates, the Dow Jones or Nasdaq indices with riveted attention, it is vital we keep our attention focused on CO2 concentrations. And to help that process, a Canadian, Michael McGee of Larbon Solutions has generated a number of widgets that feed and dsiplay real time data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that measures and reports CO2 concentrations every month.

A range of widgets are available at CO2 Now and we have reproduced one of the larger ones below. As you can see we are already 10% above safe levels and concentrations are increasing year on year.CO2 Now will update the widget with the latest information as it comes avilbale from NOAA. We encourage our readers to embed their widget of choice on their web sites, blogs and Facebook pages and urge as many others to do the same.

Learning to Really Fly

This blog is dedicated to the participants attending The Icarus Foundation's first fundraiser and the volunteers and sponsors who made it possible.

Here's the reason why we chose Icarus as the name of our foundation......Let me tell you a story....Are you sitting comfortably, then I'll begin........

Once upon a time, a long time ago……Icarus and his dad Daedelus were stuck – imprisoned  on a Greek  island.

So are we humans on this planet.

Like our Greek heroes, we humans are stuck in an old way of thinking about ourselves and our relationship with our home, planet Earth.

It took an enormous spark of creativity and imagination for Icarus and Daedelus  to see themselves flying out of their predicament. It will take us an equal  amount of creativity and imagination to see ourselves living in a different way with the environment, other life forms, and each other.

It also took huge courage to put on their wings,  jump off a cliff and flap hard enough to fly beyond the shores of their prison. It will take equal courage for us to defy the gravity of habitual thought and create a less wasteful and selfish way of life and living. It will often mean doing and saying things that others don’t want to hear.

There is nothing sustainable about mass tourism and the growth rates it needs to sustain its old business model even though much good comes from this most treasured human activity. Unless we change, we too will get stuck – imprisoned by the limits of our imagination.

What we have to conceive is a form of travel and exploration that minimizes the true cost and maximizes the real value to all – the individual who has left home, the host who cares for the guest and the community that makes it safe and efficient to move from origin to destination.

The only tourism worth imagining is a tourism that leaves no sooty, carbon footprints. That’s what it will mean to fly in the bigger sense…. and having escaped our prison – where our accumulative waste defiled and diminished our space – we must learn to fly neither too high or too low. We must not let our sense of self importance carry us close to the unforgiving heat of the sun; or our sense of insignificance drag down into the waters of despair, denial or indifference.

In the original Greek myth, Icarus, like many over ambitious, over confident and inexperienced would-be heroes was killed by his own hubris. It doesn’t have to be that way for our generation. We can learn to fly and stay flying…….But it will take imagination and courage.

You believe that – that’s why you’ve come to this fund raiser. How you imagine what true flying is all about and how you take those first steps towards the cliff edge is your choice.  Thank you for believing that you can. It’s a wonderfully hopeful first start.

Back 2 School

The Icarus Foundation is having its first fund raiser in Toronto on April 2nd.
See all the details here.

Please support our organization - give it wings (!)  - by attending.

Thanks to the generous support from companies like Intrepid in Canada and the hard work of Drs. Dodds and Graci at Ryerson, there'll be tons of fun, amazing prizes and the chance to meet Shannon Guihan, our wonderful new volunteer Executive Director!

You can also bet it will be a Green event - the organizers will be following our own manual. Download it here and do your own appraisal!

SHIFT HAPPENED!

The Good News - Anna Pollock
The second Responsible Travel and Tourism Forum held in Toronto on October 14th and 15th, sponsored by Baxter Travel Press, and ably organized by Jaqueline Kuehnel, was a significant milestone on Canada's slow journey towards truly responsible travel.

The Forum  began with an invitation only “think tank” with a cross section of tourism leaders representing destination marketers (Canada and Caribbean), outbound tour operators (TUI and Thomas Cook), adventure travel operators (Intrepid), resorts (Sandals), ground representation (Avis), aviation (Transat, InterVISTAS), associations (TIAC , CBSR, Conference Board), NGOs (Icarus, The Travel Foundation), academics and consultants. For a full lit of participants see here.

I was privileged to facilitate the think tank whose purpose was to have an initial conversation on the need for the total travel community to respond responsibly to climate change – see agenda and discussion points here.

Participants contributed intelligently and deliberately for over four hours of highly productive conversation. Just more hot air, perhaps? No, I think not! The combination of concern, commitment and consensus all suggested that the topic was no passing fad and, despite fears of financial meltdown and economic recession, this group agreed that climate change would be the force that could and would change the face of tourism most over the next decade.

So Some Good News!
Several key points emerged from the think tank:

1. The need to debate the reality of climate change was over. More important is the need to understand the full implications and focus collaboratively on solutions;
2. No one ducked ownership of the problem and committed to keep the topic high on the agenda despite many pressing distractions.
3. There were no excuses for deferring action. Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals Resorts, urged the group (I’ve paraphrased) : “don’t wait; don’t look for others to lead; be the change you want to see”.
4. There was a willingness to collaborate across sectors. Bringing the in and outbound sectors of tourism together and inviting fresh perspectives from outside the normal travel community (e.g., Expedia  and CBSR) provided useful information. Barb Steele of the CBSR described the speed with which the retail sector was overcoming similar “fragmentation” challenges to collaborate to bring down their footprint and force suppliers into line.
5. Measurement was considered essential at all levels. If global tourism is to lose weight (i.e., reduce carbon emissions by potentially as much as 2 billion tons or so between now and 2020), it was vital that destinations and suppliers had reliable benchmarks against which progress could be measured. The travel and  hospitality sector would be required to disclose its footprint like any other.

6. Canada

   has no shortage of positive stories to share as its businesses adjust to the realities of high energy prices and the costs of emissions but we need an organization to accelerate the process and use such stories to encourage others to follow.

The meeting did not emerge with a list of prioritized action steps; clarity about roles and responsibilities etc – it was too early for that and participants represented too much diversity. But it did demonstrate a commitment by each and all and created a space for something to emerge.

The Icarus Foundation was created to nurture that space until industry had recognized the importance of this issue and the need for focused action. By TIAC we will be able to announce a new board of hard working individuals committed to the cause of making Canada's tourism economy "climate friendly". I'll continue to act as advicate and spokesperson but have stepped down from the Board due to my residency in the UK and in order to let others make their contribution.

Icarus is having discussions with both The Travel Foundation and the International Centre for Responsible Tourism – both established and highly productive organizations in the UK with supporting aims - with a view to working collaboratively in Canada. Something new, non-partisan and funded is needed quickly if any practical progress is to occur. We're grateful for the interest and support shown by the Ted Rogers School of management at Ryerson and TIAC who has suggested that Icarus take on the climate change portfolio in asssociation with them -- so watch this space.

So that’s the good news but sadly we’ve a mountain of work ahead of us as I reminded the delegates at the RTTF on Wednesday….see here….

Globalization at Work

If you ever doubted that we live in a highly connected global village, take a look at this amazing video showing global flight movements over a 24 hour period.And to think, this activity only accounts for 2.5% of the total emissions generated by human activity in a year. The image helps make CO2 - an otherwise invisible gas - more visible.When on YouTube make sure you click the high definition screen for maximum effect.

How Many Economists Does it Take to Change a Government?

Hopefully just 235! These are the signatories to an open letter to the electorate of Canada to send a clear signal to politicians seeking voter support. On October 7th, more than 230 economists teaching in Canadian universities have signed an open letter to federal political leaders calling for economically coherent action on climate change. Their letter was in support of an equally powerful letter signed by 120 climate scientists in Canada urging our leaders to act responsibly now.

Canada's reputation in the international community is at an all time low - not because Canadian's ability to care has atrophied but because of the actions and ignorant opinions of a powerful few. Canada is not just looking intransigent but ignorant. Why bother to market Canada as a place worth exploring with this kind of negative publicity?  The tourism industry has waxed lyrical about sustainability for years and we have many positive role models and  heroes of our own but their efforts can be reduced to naught by a handful of people more interested in winning power than leading a nation.

Canada has been endowed with a wealth of natural resources - many it has sadly squandered and many more are under threat. The buoyancy of Canada's economy, until recently, reflected global demand for increasingly scarce resources and we are happy to let buyers bid on the open market for the resources in our back yard. The next resource, which no one owns but which every human and nation must protect and conserve, is the atmosphere and its ability to process the waste of our activities. Simply because we humans haven't figured out a way to own and thereby charge others for its use, that resource is being abused to our collective peril. It is time to rectify yet another flaw in the market system and show how we value that atmospheric resource by assigning a value to it and making all users pay for the services it renders.

On October 12th, Canadians have already much to be thankful for. Give yourselves a bonus on Monday and vote in leaders who have the courage to care for your children's future. It's time to stand up and be counted - every vote counts !

Art of the Possible

 

Glen Hiemstra is one of my favorite futurists - his view is usually balanced. This is a very informative slide deck on the future of energy with a focus on transportation. It was referenced in Hiemstra's informative blog: The presentations contains some useful and positive information about the action necessary to wean ourselves off oil dependency.

MVC Lessons from the Future
From: ghiemstra, 23 hours ago

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Futurist Glen Hiemstra keynotes the Mississippi Valley Conference on transportation on July 8, 2008.

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