Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to Professor Tom Baum of University of Strathclyde, our selfish desire to visit distant places has created a neo-colonial dependence, an implicit obligation to continue to take care of the economies of tourist hotspots after climate activists restrict global air travel.
Climate change and air travel: why we have a responsibility to countries dependent on tourism
July 23, 2019 2.23am AEST
Tom Baum Professor of Work, Employment and Organisation, University of Strathclyde
Few would deny the threat to our planet posed by climate change, or the role that humans have played in the degradation of the natural environment. These arguments have been highlighted by Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist whose single-minded determination forced the powers of Europe to pay attention.…
Tourism and tradition
Research has not as yet addressed the implications of no fly for these developing countries, and such analysis will be a useful contribution to this debate. But if we no longer travel as much because of our commitment to the environment, what are the consequences for Phu Quoc and places like the Seychelles, St Lucia and Bali? Might they revert to their traditional way of life if tourism development disappeared?
All are destinations where the traditional economy and culture have been side-lined or destroyed on the promise of tourism’s riches. That promise depended on the transformation of a landscape dominated by agriculture and fishing to a concrete infrastructure that curtails or even obliterates traditional activities. And all depend on air access, investing in infrastructure to accommodate jet loads of tourists at high volume.
What happens, then, when the planes stop coming? Arguably, in time, nature would reclaim the runways and resorts that would be abandoned. But that will take time, if indeed it happens at all. In the meantime, it may be too late to revert to the economies and lifestyles of the past. Many would say this is a price worth paying to save our planet. In other words, without tourists, Phu Quoc and similar destinations could become wastelands with no way back to prosperity. Which might be seen as their problem.
But it’s not that simple. Communities in LDCs and SIDS – or, rather governments on their behalf – were seduced by the promise of prosperity through tourism. There was an implicit commitment from market countries through aid and loans that the planes would keep flying and the tourists keep arriving.
This form of neo-colonial dependence now places an obligation on countries and individual travellers whose demand created these destinations. However well-intentioned the no-fly campaign is, it is challenging from an ethical point of view to abandon these tourism destinations.
…
Read more: https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-air-travel-why-we-have-a-responsibility-to-countries-dependent-on-tourism-120462
There is an obvious solution. Hold more climate conferences. Nobody complains when greens fly to a climate conference, that kind of flying is good for the planet.
Climate scientists seem to require exotic holiday locations like Bangkok, Paris or Rio to properly disseminate their research, so if the number of climate conferences is increased to compensate for the fall in regular tourism, fly in tourist destinations can be assured of continued economic support from rich Westerners.
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“Might they revert to their traditional way of life if tourism development disappeared?” Am I smelling a little colonialist nostalgia for the imaginary days of the noble savage living in peace and harmony with nature while, naturally and in harmony with nature, dying in childbirth, starving during a drought, and being plagued by all kinds of illnesses and parasites no colonialist would dream of tolerating?
Not to mention pervasive cannibalism, incessant warfare, and massacre
Hypocrisy galore.
Not mentioned is that this Tom Baum is a supporter of the horrific Israeli / Zionist actions against the indigenous Palestinians.
Baum supports Israeli immigration laws which specify JEWS ONLY, while he demands massive, unemployable, 3rd world immigration into the US & Europe.
What does his policy on Israel have to do with the issue at hand? I’ll tell you what. Nothing.
If you’re going to stray from the topic, at least get your facts straight. About 7% of immigration to Israel is Arabic. A small amount is Christian. Of the balance, over half have Jewish ancestry, but are not Jewish according to Jewish law, and are not legally recognized as Jewish by Israel itself.
He mentions Phu Cock a phu to many times. It seems that his main motivation here is establish a “debate” so that he can continue travelling to exotic locations for a bit of 3rd world sex tourism during the long academic summer.
But he’s right, if these countries stop providing under-age sex opportunities for ageing westerners what kind of future will they have? It’s real moral bind for these heavily committed SJW types.
What, the homeland created for the Jewish people only accepts Jews as immigrants? What a shock. And how are the Arabs “indigenous”? And “horrific”? You are giving far too much credence to propaganda -I wonder why?
You forgot slavery.
Still at the second and third though.
That “lifestyle of the past” they reference was known as grinding, subsistence poverty replete with backbreaking work, inadequate diet, high infant mortality, and dying young from infections.
Or would the crackpot who wrote this like to go back to living in a damp, freezing cave, wearing nothing but a stinky bearskin, eating dandelion roots and the remnants of a dead woodchuck?
Party on, dude, if that’s your pleasure.
Seriously, these “colleges” need to be defunded if this is the kind of absurdity they’re churning out.
Professor of Work, Employment and Organisation, University of Strathclyde
Formerly a Foreman. What a university!
The good Professor should also write to The Guardian/Observer newspaper group and ask them when they intend to stop publishing a separate travel supplement at the weekend. It probably accounts for a significant fraction of their dwindling advertising revenues.
Their readership is so small that it would barely make any difference.
More than likely, the majority of their readership is traffic from articles discussed on WUWT that the readers here have clicked through to see the remainder of the articles.
“Professor of Work, Employment and Organisation” Who has never worked, employs nobody and couldn’t organize a circle-jerk.
Mean.
But funny as h*ll.
Yes, I went to some not very touristy parts of Thailand in 1985 – not as bad as the villages I visited in southern Africa around the same time, but dirt poor with very high infant and maternal mortality rates. Very little education and almost everybody worked seven days a week 10 hours a day trying to grow enough food to survive.
Why so many Western Progressives believe in theses fairyland before development is beyond me – except tat it’s necessary to believe in them to believe in all the other BS.
Yes. Socialism never works in the present, so the left have to project it into the past or future, and tell us it worked then.
Otherwise they’d have to admit their entire ideology is a failure.
Hence the massive corruption of anthropology, for example.
That’s why I keep saying that they need to spend a few weeks living in a colonial re-enactment. Experiencing a pre-industrial life-style would cure a lot of their romanticism.
Thailand can be adopted by Tom Steyer and rebranded Steyerland
for Girly Boys.
Or perhaps they could make conjunctiveitis fashionable and rebrand the place Sty-land
Trachoma.
Chlamydia trachomatis sub. Steyerensis
Climate insanity is the naked emperor and everyone’s debating the fabric.
Touché.
Touché means touched. It is a term of recognition that an opponent has scored a point against you. Originally from fencing, it can be used figuratively in an argument to recognise that someone you are disagreeing with has a valid point.
Are you an alarmist who has just realised that Climate insanity is the naked emperor ?
“… revert to the economies and lifestyles of the past.” Which gave short, brutal lives. Tourism enriches locals where their only other alternative was subsistence survival; no modern medicine, communications, HVAC, etc. Bucolic only in the minds of rich Westerners.
These nitwits are situational ethics junkies with no moral compass.
Principles are inconvenient observable, reproducible standards for the Chamber, with a twilight faith, and Pro-Choice quasi-religion. So, the secular cult has invested its leverage to normalize ethical standards (i.e. selective, opportunistic, politically congruent, “living”) for diverse causes.
Or “evolve” your viewpoints.
Ethical or selective, opportunistic, relative. Losing their Pro-Choice religion? Probably not.
“Morality is always dreadfully complicated to a man who has lost all his principles.” – G.K. Chesterton
I see no reason that Pocatello, Idaho, is NOT a viable climate conference venue. The weather, this time of year, is absolutely stunning. Conferees should be BEGGING their governments to send them to Pocatallo.
Am I missing something?
The should visit the first nuclear power plant while they’re visiting. Oh, and Craters of the Moon.
The Depraved and MOST Deplorable Vlad the Impaler
I’m afraid you are missing something dear chap. It’s called taxation.
You see the obvious solution is for all us feelthee reech westerners to pay a ‘lost tourism’ tax on top of carbon taxes to ensure these people are not deprived of the living standards we have forced them to adopt.
See, easy when you get the hang of this climate change malarky.
Should surely be the place that is the “cheapest” to get in terms of carbon emissions. Get the list of delegates and get a computer to find the best location. Train for as many as possible and shortest flying for the rest. Probably somewhere like Warsaw.
Climate Change and Global Warming are the fence posts and barbed wire that will enslave humanity
The twisted logic needed by greens to rationalize their own hypocrisy. Hilarious.
Yes and it’s all about them, relieving their own guilt, not the welfare of the people at the destination.
oh but but they “only do” the nice ecotourism venues and pay for carbon offests dontcha know?
the hostility industry is a bloody waqste of a life running round serving n cleaning up after others, then the poor working stiffs usually women get to go home and do another 5 hrs at home.
low wages and pressure to work harder ongoing.. tourisms NOT anything to be pleased about.
The “hostility industry”.
Intentional or not, I like it!
Perhaps the likes of the UN and its offshoot the IPCC could ask
what the people of these holiday resorts actually want.
Are they the people worried about the planet coming to a end.?
But no, we the wiser people know far more about such things than you lot.
We have always had tourism, what changed was that the Western countries got richer because of our fossil fuel based way of life, and that same intelligent use of fossil fuel energy led to aircraft being developed which brought down the price of air travel.
It all gets back to the use of fossil fuel, which is why the Greens are against it.
MJE VK5ELL
The solution is simple. Bring back sailing ships. 🙂
An ocean voyage and a dream vacation every ten years or so. What could be better?
Climatistas should all move to third world tourist spots so they may live in solidarity with their brothers and sisters. Travel problem solved.
How about Mogadishu while they’re out and about? Let them see poverty first hand…
The travel hypocrisy will continue, its all about restrictions for thee not for me. The Gores and the Di Caprios of the world will continue to lecture us as they circle the world and get transfered to their 6 star accommodation in luxury SUVs. Even the saint status PM of New Zealand recently returned from a global virtue tour only to jet of for a bit of a family holiday in Raratonga. Anything to escape the tawdry conditions and scenery of NZ I guess.
‘Few would deny the threat to our planet posed by climate change, or the role that humans have played in the degradation of the natural environment. These arguments have been highlighted by Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist whose single-minded determination forced the powers of Europe to pay attention.’
Hmmm?
Western countries could pay for Environmentalists to fly to these places, and count it as “foreign aid”.
I wonder if that will be his next proposal…?
The forerunner of “foreign aid” was Papal Indulgencies, whereby the wealthy could ease their conciences by making generous donatons to the “cause”, paving the way for their eternal salvation!
One way tickets of course.
Seriously!!!!???
A full Professor at Clydesdale Univ. … cites a mentally and emotionally challenged CHILD … as “proof” of Climate Change?
His must be the EASIEST classes at Clydesdale Univ.
The article is so ridiculous on so many levels it beggars belief. That this came from a professor deserves several exclamation marks.
“Few would deny the threat to our planet posed by climate change” = wrong. Every poll of the populace says otherwise.
“or the role that humans have played in the degradation of the natural environment” = mostly wrong; it’s a concern of most, but most don’t understand the real situation thanks to the media hype.
“What happens, then, when the planes stop coming? Arguably, in time, nature would reclaim the runways and resorts”. What? Everybody just abandons the prime real estate and does nothing with it. This guy is so institutionalised I’m sure he doesn’t know what grass looks like. Utterly ridiculous.
Wait until the ethical dilemma of no electricity, AC, heating, food, medical supplies, etc. rears its head.
“…Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist whose single-minded determination…”
Single minded.
Remember all those motivational memes? Stuff like, “Your mind is like a parachute – it works best when it is open”?
Remember, to a Left having an open mind is a Good Thing when you disagree with them and need to expand your world view, but once your world view has been corrected, narrow it down again to single-minded determination.
Pretty much the same as Lefts and democratic process. If you agree with us, it is the voice of the public. If you allow (cough) Russian Bots to affect the outcome then sorry people, time for a bit of dictatorship for your own good.
Well, the solution is obvious to any Green/Eco activist: we need to keep supporting them by sending them “welfare” payments every month. After all, it’s not their fault that they are now dependent on our tourist money.
Air travel restricted … restricted to whom ?
So says a Professor of Strathclyde’s Social Knitting.
CAGW has moved way past vomitous.
Obviously well qualified to be counted as a Global Warming/ClimateChange/CAGW expert
“Professor Tom Baum
Head Of Department
Work, Employment and Organisation
My academic interests address the social and strategic contexts of low skills employment, with particular focus on hospitality and tourism.
I hold BA(Hons) and MA degrees in Education from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, an MPhil in Training and Development obtained while working with Nottingham Trent University and a PhD in Tourism Labour Market Studies from the University of Strathclyde. I have recently completed my DLitt degree from the University of Strathclyde, based on my published work in the field of tourism and employment over a 30 year period.”
An educated fool.
Few would deny the threat to our planet posed by climate change, or the role that humans have played in the degradation of the natural environment.
I more than question it- I say it is an outright lie. And judging by the numerous comments here and in other places, and the fact that most average people vote with their feet; and continue to drive pickups and fly to vacation spots etc., etc. etc. I would have to conclude that Mr. Tom Baum is out of touch and ill informed on what the people believe- oops know (belief is for warmists due to lack of facts).
Some of these poorer, especially tropical countries that rely heavily on tourism for a good part of their GDP had best think twice about criticizing air travel. While they are probably only thinking about maximizing climate extortion monies for going along with the IPCC directives, they sure would look hypocritical if they start squawking about people flying to their neck of the jungle to have a holiday and leave behind a bunch of money for their economy.
Nobody has pulled them up on it yet, any sea level problems at say the Maldives is probably caused by the weight of all their new airports…
Climb aboard one of these majestic sailing ships and set sail to exotic locations. Experience life at sea up close, on vessels ranging in size from 6 passenger Schooners to 300 passenger Tall Ships.
https://sailingshipadventures.com/
I took a Windjammer cruise in the Caribbean back in the early 90s. 240′ sailing ship, pretty awesome.