‘The carbon cost of our flight to Oman is calculated at 3.23 tonnes of CO2. To compensate for that you’d need to plant 4 trees.
‘That would cost £24.25. And yes, I have paid that sum to climatecare.org in respect of my flight here.
‘Of course this is a voluntary scheme. And, in my opinion, so it should be. But the industry can and, dare I say, should do much more to publicise schemes of this kind. It could become a matter of course to tell people when they book their holiday what the environmental cost is and how, if they wish, they can compensate for it.
'The example that I’ve been using relates to global warming. It is, almost certainly, the greatest environmental challenge we face. But of course it is by no means the only one.
'Responsible tourism is a much wider subject altogether. And the scope for tourism to make a responsible contribution to the society in which it operates is very considerable indeed.
'Earlier this year Sandra and I spent a wonderful few days on safari in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. We stayed with Robin Pope Safaris who make a very substantial contribution to the funding of two local secondary schools.
'At the other end of the scale you get certain American cruise operators who build terminals on small poor Caribbean islands and operate them in such as way as to reduce to a bare minimum the contribution these facilities make to the economy of the communities in which they are located.
'Very often the labour used to build the terminal is imported, the labour used to man the terminal is imported, many of the shops are owned by the cruise company and local input is minimal. I am not suggesting that this is a deliberate policy objective of the companies concerned but it is certainly a consequence of the way in which they operate.
What, if anything, can be done about this?
'Well here’s a challenge to you. What about setting up an accreditation system which recognises and rewards responsible and environmentally friendly tourism? And what better body to establish and administer such a system than the Institute of Travel and Tourism?
'I suspect that you would find that an initiative of this kind would be warmly received by a public with a keen appetite for information of this kind. After all, if the political parties are increasingly lifting the priority they attach to environmental issues and the prominence which they are given on their agendas it’s a fair assumption that they think they are going with the grain of public opinion.
'Similar certification schemes such as Fair Trade and the Rainforest Alliance have achieved a great deal. This benefits the environment and the communities where they operate, and can’t be bad for business either.
'Those tourism providers who can claim high environmental credentials are likely to find this an increasingly marketable advantage. The challenge facing your industry is to get ahead of the game. It’s a challenge I’m sure you can meet.'
As Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Howard persuaded the United States to attend the Rio Summit and sign the Climate Change Convention – the precursor to the Kyoto Protocol; Mr Howard describes it as, ‘The single most memorable day in my 12 years in Government’.
