TPCC engages travel & tourism research community in open discussion on climate change, in preparation for first ‘Stocktake’
The independent, science-based Tourism Panel on Climate Change (TPCC) had its first public open discussion with more than 350 travel & tourism academic researchers on July 6, the second day of the Surrey 2023 Conference, “Back For Good”.
Professor Daniel Scott, who chaired the session, described the audience engagement at the event as “very encouraging and visibly more advanced than even five years ago”, and the widespread support for TPCC from the academic community as “a very strong validation of the research programme, with great buy-in”.
The 350+ travel & tourism stakeholders were reminded that a stocktake of the state of climate change risk for travel & tourism, and progress on sector progress toward its commitments is the first key deliverable expected of the TPCC.
The first TPCC Stocktake provides a sectoral contribution to the United Nations Climate Change Stocktake process that all countries and many non-state actors are completing in 2023.
The indicators developed by TPCC experts — on climate change physical risks, adaptive responses, emissions, and mitigation actions — were the focus of a TPCC workshop and discussion with conference delegates.
The Stocktake will set a benchmark against which TPCC’s future analyses of travel & tourism’s collective climate response will be measured.
The TPPC plans to publish its Stocktake in conjunction with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in November.
“Our objective at the Surrey Conference was to seek critical academic support for our programme of science-based information gathering and reporting aimed at policy makers,” explained TPCC executive board member Geoffrey Lipman.
”We believe this was highly successful, and thank the many delegates we engaged with over the conference.”
The panel discussion featured:
- Professor Daniel Scott, University of Waterloo and University of Surrey, described the details of the Stocktake and the extensive work with tourism experts and climate scientists to identify and catalogue key indicators across the entire sector and global community.
- Professor Geoffrey Lipman, SUNx Malta and STGC, spoke about the incubation of the TPCC in the Saudi Arabian Sustainable Tourism Global Centre (STGC) and its establishment as an independent mechanism for the sector as a whole. He referenced the deep commitment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to use sustainable tourism as a societal transformation vehicle, with the STGC, for which Prof Lipman is an Envoy, playing a pivotal role.
- Dr Debbie Hopkins, University of Oxford, said that the climate crisis is both an environmental and social challenge. The former can be increasingly seen in the physical consequences of intensifying, unpredictable heat and precipitation patterns. The latter on the effect on human livelihoods; refugees, and food and drinking water supply. Tourism will be centrally impacted.
- Dr Johanna Loehr, Griffith Institute for Tourism, talked about the need for holistic approaches that improve integration between the tourism and climate change policy domains, and which address deeper changes to the design, structure, and intent of the tourism system.
- Professor Xavier Font, University of Surrey, drawing from his earlier keynote presentation, said that attempts to consider business as usual, with questionable offsetting, will simply fail as the crisis intensifies. He reiterated that good marketing requires an authentic product otherwise it creates greenwash when public interest in such issues is rapidly increasing.
Sixty-six leading climate scientists and tourism experts are taking stock ahead of COP28
On July 4, two days before the Surrey panel, the majority of TPCC’s scientists and experts participated in a live and online meeting to advance work on the Stocktake.
The TPCC has gathered 66 leading climate scientists and tourism experts from around the world who are actively contributing to the Stocktake and also to TPCC’s mission to support tourism’s transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development, in line with Paris Climate Agreement targets.
Supporting this work are data analysis specialists ForwardKeys of Spain and data visualisation specialists Murmuration of France, who will help present the information in ways that will boost comprehension and aid decision and policy making.
The Stocktake will present all the positive and negative tourism change indicators that will serve as performance benchmarks for responsive travel & tourism climate action in the future.
The TPCC will formally present the Stocktake at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates in November 2023.
Next year (2024), the TPCC will deliver its first Science Assessment; a comprehensive review and analysis of what we know about tourism and climate change based on all of the scientific literature and other knowledge it has gathered.
The TPCC Science Assessment will also identify scenarios and change actions for policymakers and sector stakeholders.
The Assessment will interrogate the intersection of climate and tourism in relation to the Paris 1.5°C scenario as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) latest assessments and recommendations on emissions reduction targets.
