Up in the Air: The Icarus Foundation Blog

Copenhagen Watch

No one can doubt that the topic of climate change is as complex as it is contentious. The notion that we could achieve an international agreement given the diversity of needs, conditions and aspirations of over 150 countries is overwhelmingly ambitious. But that's exactly what's happening in Copenhagen and we can watch the results of their efforts unfold before their eyes thanks to the development of a powerful simulation model - C-ROADS  -  being used by negotiators this coming week.

The Climate Scoreboard is an online tool that allows the public, journalists and other interested parties to track progress in the ongoing negotiations to produce an international climate treaty. The Scoreboard automatically reports, on a daily basis, whether proposals in the treaty process commit countries to enough greenhouse gas emissions reductions to achieve widely expressed goals, such as limiting future warming to 1.5 to 2.0°C (2.7 to 3.6°F) above pre-industrial temperatures.

The same team have produced a simulation (C-LEARN) that enables anyone to play "what if?". It's a fantastic teaching tool and awareness raiser and, if any educators are reading this, then I suggest you use. All of us need to become carbon literate and this tool helps show not just the size of the challenge but its inter-connected complexity. The simulator does not yet show which sectors and activities contribute to climate change but it's only a matter of time before one comes available. Click on the title and you'll be linked to the real thing! The video is worth a view too - see button on widget!

The C-Lean Simulation Tool (instructions, if you need them, are here)

 

Manitoba based Prariemango has the right ideas on how to build a sustainable tourism industry.  They take a community first, bottom up approach for tourism that works to build sustainable communities encompassing cultural and social empowerment, economic action and environmental growth.  Through insight, education and leadership this organization hopes to overcome barriers and implement a self-sustaining tourism industry in the province.  The brainchild of Richard Magleo, he explains that the idea behind Prairiemango was his goal to build a "real identity" of Manitoba.

Manitoba is rich in natural tourism resources including Churchill in the north, a projected UNESCO site to the east dubbed by some as the "lungs of the north" that are all looking to eco-tourism as a part of its overall economic stability, cultural appreciation and environmental conservation. Prairiemango seeks to provide the tourism industry with insight, educational tools and the necessary leadership skills needed to create a road map to sustainable tourism development in Manitoba.

This change is occurring at a time of environmental concern in the tourism industry.  These factors allow for growth in the tourism industry and opportunity to promote the environment through tourism. With Prariemango’s logic, eco-tourism can be an integral part of a sustainability strategy that will provide economic stability, cultural understanding and environmental conservation.  Check out their newly launched website here.

Times of Change- The Tourism 2023 Vision

On October 8, 2009, Forum for the Future, a non-profit sustainable development organization, introduced its project the “Tourism 2023 Vision” at the ABTA travel conference.  The purpose of this project is to help the UK outbound travel and tourism industry understand the challenges it faces in planning for a sustainable future.  This ‘what if’ report outlines what could happen to tourism in the future as a result of climate change, population growth and shortages of oil and other resources through the exploration of four possible scenarios that could impact the future state of the tourism market. Major UK based tour operators, airlines, cruise companies and travel agents participated in the exercise and signed the Tourism 2023 Vision, committing themselves, individually and as a group, to creating a sustainable industry by 2023.

 

In summary, these Tourism 2023 scenarios include “Boom & Bust” where new technologies make green traveling easier and where an aging population takes medical holidays for cheap operations elsewhere. “Divided Disquiet” where political instability will have made many world destinations unattractive to tourists, except for doomsday tourism where people will flock to see rapidly disappearing natural resources. “Price and Privilege” where the rising costs of fuel and energy will make long distance travel too expensive for most people. “Carbon Clampdown” where legislative measures such as personal carbon credits combined with increased awareness on the risks of climate change could result in a reduced demand for international travel.

 

This vision for action that resulted from the 18 month project is based on six principles: protecting the environment, developing employees, providing customers with mainstream sustainable products, ensuring that destinations benefit from tourism, innovating to create sustainable transport and resorts and developing a business which is environmentally, socially and financially sustainable. The group of signatories are expected to focus on measures for promoting low carbon destinations and travel options, reducing landfill waste, better returning economic benefits back to local communities, and improving resort water efficiency.

 

The project has been successful in drawing attention to some challenges the tourism industry will face in achieving sustainability.  It has also been successful in convincing businesses and organizations that their practices must change to ensure sustainability in the future of tourism.  Currently only targeting the UK tourism industry, these principles could be applied to the Canadian tourism industry to further the conversations on sustainable tourism and act as a catalyst for action.  

Proposed Polar Bear Habitat - Can it Help?

On Thursday, October 23, the US Department of The Interior proposed the designation of more than 200,000 square miles of land, sea and ice for the purposes of protecting the shrinking polar bear population. The proposed habitat runs along the northern coast of Alaska, and would be the largest single designation of protected habitat for any species, encompassing the entire range of the two polar bear populations that exist on American land and territorial waters.

Officials state that the cause of the bears shrinking range is directly related to the disappearance of sea ice caused by global warming. “Proposing critical habitat for this iconic species is one step in the right direction to help this species stave off extinction, recognizing that the greatest threat to the polar bear is the melting of sea ice caused by climate change,” said Thomas Strickland, the assistant interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.

It appears though, that the bears’ habitat will not be set aside as a refuge and that oil and gas exploration and other activities could in fact continue under the terms of the species act and other laws. Just this week the Shell Oil Company was given permission to drill in the proposed protected area.

Can this be an effective measure then?  Conservation groups are concerned, with what appears to be good reason. 

Were the designation approved, it would require any commercial interest to show that any proposed activity, including oil drilling or shipping, would not destroy or adversely affect the bears’ habitat or accelerate the extinction of the species.  There are already concerns expressed by Alaskan officials that any such habitat protection will threaten the state's oil and gas industry.

Is this no more than recognizing a need for protected habitat?  The Interior Department is required to publish a final critical-habitat rule by June 30, 2010.

Icarus Joins Planet in Focus for their 2009 Film Festival

    

The Canadian based organization Planet In Focus has been producing their leading international environmental film festival since 1999.  During this time PIF has championed environmental cinema through the development of their forum for environmental art, industry and activism to join together. PIF's  2009 festival dates are Tuesday October 20 to Sunday October 25.  This year The Icarus Foundation invites you to join us as we co-present the film entitled The Golden Beach, by Swedish filmmaker Hasse Wester, on Sunday, October 25 at the Royal Ontario Museum. 

The Golden Beach explores global travel and the role it's playing in the transformation of a seaside town in India.  The filmmaker lived
 among
 the
 Halakki
 Gowdas
 people
 for
 more
 than
 a
 year,
 learning
 their
 language
 and
 customs.
 When
 Wester
 returns
 to
 the
 beach
 20
 years
 after
 his
 first
 visit,
 much
 has
 changed:
 villagers
 who
 once
 farmed
 together
 now
 run
 competing
 cafes
 to
 service
 the
 growing
 number
 of

Western
 tourists,
 and
 money
 has
 replaced
 peace
 as
 the
 treasure
 of
 choice.
 By
 integrating
 himself
 into
 the
 story,
 Wester
 has
 made
 a
 film
 that
 questions
 what
 happens
 when
 our
 fantasies
 overlap
 with
 other
 cultures’
 homes,
 and
 illuminates
 the
 moral 
ambiguities
 of 
pleasure 
seeking 
in 
foreign
 places.



Tickets are available via the box office on the Planet in Focus website (www.planetinfocus.org).