Why sustainable tourism must address climate change

Abstract

This opinion piece examines Weaver's thesis that sustainable tourism's current expanding engagement with climate change may not necessarily be conducive to the interests of tourism sustainability. It critically examines and responds to the seven interrelated issues presented by Weaver to support that opinion. This paper dispels some common climate science myths that continue to hamper scientific progress and obfuscate debate over climate change policy responses and specifically refutes recent claims of compromised and inaccurate research findings. It is argued that climate change studies reveal a deficiency in past conceptualizations of sustainable tourism that focused almost exclusively on destination scale issues and highlight the need to properly account for the environmental and social impacts of tourism's travel phase. Addressing climate change is considered a prerequisite to sustainable development and therefore germane to advancing sustainable tourism research. Tourism is currently considered among the economic sectors least prepared for the risks and opportunities posed by climate change and is only now developing the capacity to advance knowledge necessary to inform business, communities and government about the issues and potential ways forward. Any retreat from engagement with climate change issues by the tourism industry or its researchers would be to their substantial detriment.