Is tackling transport and fuel linked green house gases enough?

Alas no is the answer A 2019 Science journal study revealed that 83 per cent of the world’s cultivable land is used to feed livestock. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, meat consumption accounts for around 14.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and there is now broad consensus among scientists that […]

The Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide per ton is likely to increase.

The Biden administration plans to boost the figure it will use to assess the damage that greenhouse gas pollution inflicts on society to $51 per ton of carbon dioxide. But the number could reach as high as $125 per ton. The US Interagency Working Group also set a $1,500-per-ton cost for methane emissions and $18,000 […]

Tourism massive transfer of Wealth to Developing World

“Tourism has been described as the world’s largest transfer of resources from rich to poor, dwarfing international aid,” BBC “the largest voluntary transfer of cash from the rich to the poor, the ‘haves’ to ‘have nots’, in history”. Even if one allows for considerable “leakage” Guardian newspaper UNWTO“The sudden fall in tourism cuts off funding […]

Wildlife tourism severely impacted by massive tourism drop due to covid-19

The impact of covid-19 around the world has been catastrophic, not least in Africa’s wildlife areas, where people’s livelihoods and vital conservation work rely on tourism money coming in. Wildlife tourism around the world supports 21.8 million jobs. Before the crisis, it was contributing $23.9bn (£17.2bn) a year to the African economy. According to the […]

Food drives a third of global emissions

Overall the report found that food-system emissions represented 34 percent of total greenhouse gas output. About half of these emissions were carbon dioxide, chiefly from land use—mainly carbon losses from deforestation and degradation of organic soils—as well as energy from steps like packaging, transportation and processing. A further third of emissions were from methane—which is […]

UN Ecosystem Restoration. Conservation is not Enough

On the 5th June 2021 – World Environment Day – the UN will launch its Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. “The main aim is to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide,” said Tim Christophersen at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), “we’re at a stage now where conservation is no longer enough. We also […]

Ecosystem Accounting adopted by the UN in March 2021

Assessing and Auditing your natural assets is part of the Harmony approach. We combine natural assets like biodiversity, air, water and land, with community and heritage assets. To understand how actions and activity in hospitality, tourism and development draws on those assets. And what the consumer can, and should do, to protect those assets for […]

Beyond Gross Domestic Product – Making Nature Count

The UN’s decision to promote the assessment of natural capital as a way to understand a nations/ regions wealth beyond GDP is extremely welcome. Countries and destinations seeking to reopen to tourism need to price into their destination, the value of their gorgeous natural places, their culture and their heritage.This adds a price premium to […]