The pandemic’s shutdown of the tourism industry has had dichotomous impacts on climate change and fauna. As it’s expected for the industry to return with a vengeance, it’s important that travel behaviours are re-written with considerations for the environment in mind.
Global greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 2.3 billion tons last year (6.3%) and targets were roughly met in accordance with the 2016 Paris Agreement for climate change mitigation. However, the 7% yearly recommended decreases from the agreement aren’t meant to be approached with stay-at-home orders and massive economic restrictions. This pandemic won’t hold out forever and realistic and sustainable mechanisms must be put in place to ensure this goal is met afterwards.
Alongside carbon emissions, this period has generally enabled improved air quality, stalled airline emissions, clearer water supply and wildlife recovery.
For many species that suffered amidst tourism pre-COVID-19, there have been remarkable wildlife regrouping events. Natural landscapes were revived after being overrun by tourists. Last spring, hundreds of monkeys, usually fed by visitors, reassembled outside of Bangkok, whilst grappling over food. A herd of Great Orme Kashmiri goats were even seen on empty streets in Llandudno, Wales.
Marine mammals and research scientists that study them (i.e., neuropathologists, marine ecologists) have also appreciated the break from anthropogenic noise. Without the whir of propellers and hum of cruise ship engines, whales were heard producing feeding calls, contact calls, and newer calls unheard before! Unfortunately, as whale-watching tours discontinued, there have been larger increases in recreational boats. Tour operators are usually responsible for informing recreationists when whales are present so as to not disturb them, but with tours halted, more recreationists are unknowingly risking the livelihood of these whales.
Without tourism, it’s also been hard for governments to pay for conservation initiatives, especially in certain areas of Asia and Africa. This has led to increasing rates of poaching and illegal fishing in protected areas. With food becoming scarce in certain hotspots, malnourished villagers have desperately crossed into these grounds to hunt for food. Leopards and tigers in India, falcons in Pakistan, rhino horns in South Africa and Botswana and forest antelopes in the Republic of Congo, are some of the most targeted species.
Another change with dichotomous effects would be the reduction of industrial aerosols – composed of sulphates, nitrates, soot and mineral dust. These help cool the planet by reflecting sunlight back into space but also contribute to poor air quality and decreased respiratory health.
With all of these environmental changes, we can really benefit from adopting sustainability measures to embed in tourism. However, the industry isn’t showing any signs of reform. This is seen with examples from the International Air Transport Association’s lack of environmental sustainability measures in its resources guide for airline support to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s 100 Million Jobs Recovery Plan prioritizing barrier removal to travel and only briefly mentioning environmental conservation. However, with the UN emphasizing the importance of “rethink[ing] how the sector [travel] impacts our natural resources and ecosystems” and the Australian federal government providing grants to encourage sustainability in tourism (e.g., the Building Better Regions Fund for tourism-related infrastructure projects for a post-COVID-19 era), things are still hopeful.
Business leaders and conservationists have shared various ideas and suggested re-writing travel behaviours so that they are more carbon neutral. These include reducing individual carbon footprint with longer stays, fewer flights, encouraging domestic tourism and decreasing business travel. It would also be interesting to have environmental education initiatives promoted to travellers, agencies and other travel-related corporations to ensure environmental sustainability develops a top priority.
All this leaves us with the question: when the pandemic passes, will we make the necessary changes to travel to prioritize our climate, or will we choose to ignore the lessons learned during this pivotal time? The planet is telling us what it needs, it is up to us to listen.
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