One month ago today the Global Humanitarian Forum published the �Human Impact Report: Climate Change � The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis�  The report has received shamefully little attention.
 
This is the first report to focus on the human impact of climate change. The report calculates that more than 300 million people are seriously affected by climate change at a total economic cost of $125 billion per year.

The report estimates that climate change today accounts for over 300,000 deaths throughout the world each year, the equivalent of an Indian Ocean Tsunami every single year. By 2030, the annual death toll from climate change will reach half a million people a year.

In launching the report a month ago Kofi Annan said
“Climate change is a silent human crisis. Yet it is the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time. Already today, it causes suffering to hundreds of millions of people most of whom are not even aware that they are victims of climate change. We need an international agreement to contain climate change and reduce its widespread suffering.”

This report and the Global Humanity Forum website provide a voice for the those already suffering the ravages of global warming – this is not some distant and indeterminate threat. It is hear now, killing and impoverishing people. 

This is man-made crisis.

As Barbara Stocking, chief executive of Oxfam GB and Global Humanitarian Forum Board Member said at its launch

The science is clear � there is an urgent need to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere. We can only control those greenhouse gases which we as a species are causing to be emitted into our atmosphere in ever larger volumes. This pollution is causing climate change which is already having serious negative impacts on the environment, the food security and the livelihoods of our fellow human beings.

The principle that pollution should be controlled and that the polluter should pay to avoid causing pollution by capturing and dealing with pollution at source was established in the nineteenth century. We do not accept that asbestos, sulphides (which cause acid rain) or chemical effluent can be discharged into our environment without let or hindrance in return for preserving freshwater in Canada. Green house gases are pollutants like any other; they poison our environment and make it less habitable for ourselves and other species.

The purchasing of carbon offsets is a dangerous distraction, the purchase of medieval pardons, permits to continue to pollute, would not be accepted for asbestos, sulphides or chemical effluent. They should not be accepted for carbon pollution � a form of pollution which threatens far more disastrous consequence for our species and our environment.  � offsetting has become the Trojan Horse of anti-pollution strategies for greenhouse gases.

Friends of the Earth have just produced a damming report on carbon offsetting.
Carbon Offsetting � a dangerous distraction

The road to hell is paved with good intentions � it is time to move on from carbon offsetting. Carbon offsetting is part of the problem not part of the solution.

This is not to argue that all carbon offset projects are unworthy, some do assist people to adapt to the consequences of climate change and those of us who contribute to climate change have a responsibly to assist those adversely affected to adapt . Our responsibility is to mitigate by flying less and more carbon efficiently and then to fund adaptation, see Flysmart.

A year ago Hugo Kimber of the Carbon Consultancy, one of our ICRT associates, and I were arguing over coffee about whether carbon offsetting had contributed to raising consciousness about the pollution caused by flying, or whether it had done little more than convince people that for a small additional cost they could buy an offset and forget about it. My view is that carbon offsets are like medieval pardons purchased from the church � they do little good in the world. The voluntary take up for carbon offsets remains very low � less than 10% which demonstrates that travellers are bright.

I suspect that the majority of travellers, the potential purchasers, are unconvinced by the carbon offset product. There are three fundamental problems which undermine consumer confidence

Hugo and I agreed that we need to convince people to flysmart � instead of flying dumb. To flysmart travellers would need to

To test the idea of flysmart we needed to be able to provide travellers with a flight search engine which would enable them to choose the cheapest greenest option. Hugo persuaded Global Travel Market to create the Carbon Friendly Flight Search site. Go online and try it out, or download the screen print of choices for London to Rome  The engine enables travellers to choose to fly with the most carbon efficient carrier based on the fleet � with more accurate data on particular routes and loadings the tool would be even more effective but we have used the best available data sets.

Over the last few months 57% of users of the Carbon Friendly Flight Search have paid a premium, averaging 19%, over the cheapest flight offered by selecting to book the cheapest and greenest flight offered. Over 10,000 flight searches have been made on the site.

This demonstrates that if mainstream search engines offer a choice a majority of consumers will choose a more responsible flight.

As Justin Francis of responsibletravel.com  adds
�Surveys have consistently shown that people say they would pay more for more environmentally friendly travel products. The travel industry response has generally been 'well they would say that wouldn't they.' For the first time with this data we see the proof. In the future more and more people will choose their flight based on not just price and convenience, but on their carbon emissions. The message to the airlines is clear; carbon becomes an area for competitive advantage.�

Is there any valid reason why all search engines should not offer the consumer the opportunity to make a more responsible, greener choice?

We have demonstrated that there is demand for it.

For a copy of the press release
 

Nominations for the 2009 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards closed yesterday, the number of nominations is significantly up on last year: we have had nominations for nearly 600 organisations and individuals.

Students and associates from the International Centre for Responsible Tourism are now working through each of the categories and coming up with a long list for each category. Each of the nominees on the long list will then be sent an extensive questionnaire, references will be taken up and the judges will then create short lists which go to the full panel for debate and decision later in the year. Chairing the debate is an enjoyable challenge.  Read about who the judges are and  how the awards are judged.

The
Responsible Tourism Awards are the most prestigious awards of their kind in the
world and are a collaboration between online travel directory
responsibletravel.com, who founded and organise the Awards, UK media
partners Telegraph Travel and Geographical Magazine, BBC World News, and World
Travel Market, who host the Awards ceremony

The
2009 Responsible Tourism Award winners will be announced at World Travel Market on Wednesday
11 November, and in The Daily Telegraph the following weekend.

I spent three days in Cornwall this week with CoaST Cornwall Sustainable Tourism. I have been wanting to visit CoaST for several years, their success has been extraordinary. This is a group of over 1000 members, tourism businesses and those in the supply chain. By collaborating together they have clout. They don�t duck the big issues of global warming and peak oil; they have not put their heads in the sand. They have worked to equip their 30 Ambassadors and 1000 members to argue the case for sustainability and to take practical steps to make the changes necessary to make Cornwall, in the words of the Cape Town Declaration, “a better place to live in and a better place to visit.”

I was invited to speak at the 6th Birthday Event � a day of briefing and discussions about the big issues and what can be done about them in Cornwall � this is an organisation which has clout in Cornwall and much further afield � join their One Planet Tourism network. It was an honour to be there and to be part of the celebrations as members girded their loins to continue the battle to make tourism, and Cornwall, more sustainable. CoaST is an organisation with big ideas and achievements to match.

I was able to spend time with CoaST staff; the ICRT will be working more closely with them, and with some of their businesses. I stayed at St Michael�s Hotel and Spa in Falmouth (GTBS Silver)  and the Bedruthan Steps Hotel(GTBS Gold)  where Suzie Newham, one of our ICRT students, is Sustainability Manager. The Bedruthan Steps is retro engineered for sustainability, their new sister hotel the Scarlet is designed with sustainability in its DNA � it will be a leader.  

Michael Smith is the Managing Director of the Venus Company (GTBS Gold)  which runs five sustainable beach cafes in Cornwall and Devon. They were worthy winners of the 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism Award for the Best in a Marine Environment Category � the award was well deserved � it is the detail which makes the difference, local sourcing, sustainable packaging, thinking hard about how the business operates and levying 5 pence on each cup of tea and flake sold for the Wildlife Trusts in Devon and Cornwall.

I travelled to Cornwall and back on the overnight sleeper, the �Night Riviera�. Sadly there were not many people using the sleeper service, it is comfortable and smooth � the cabins are stylish and spacious with a wash basin and tv, and freshly laundered sheets. Much less hassle, and far more enjoyable, than flying. Regrettably the service gets little promotion by First Great Western who operate it or by sustainable tourism businesses in Cornwall. The service was re-launched with a �2 million refurbishment in June 2008 but unless tourism businesses in Cornwall promote the service it will be lost.

Britain by Rail promote the service. Predictably Mark Smith, the Man in Seat Sixty-One and winner of the Responsible Tourism Award for the best individual contribution in 2006  has the best information on the Night Riviera link ,including the links from the sleeper to a range of destinations off the main line. VisitCornwall link  to Mark's site.I had a solo sleeper for �49 each way � book in advance. You can go to sleep in London and wake in Cornwall � the world looks a much better place from there.

We have much to learn form CoaST.  Join their network.

Today, World Ocean Day, sees the premier in the UK of The End of the Line: Imagine a World without Fish. We have known since the 1950�s that our overfishing of the world�s oceans was leading to the collapse of fishing stocks, there have been �wars� over access to fish.

We know what needs to be done to tackle the collapse of fish stocks � but the politicians and the regulators have failed, fish quotas have not worked. Governments and the fishermen undermine and render ineffective the required regulatory framework.

Mark Kurlansky (1997) in Cod described man�s successful war of annihilation In 1966 the spawning stock of cod in the North Sea was 213,361 tonnes by 2006 the spawning stock was 28,481 tonnes, an 87% decline � unsustainable consumption.

http://endoftheline.com

Our failure to protect the ocean�s fish stocks is jut one of the tragedies of the commons � we have the technical solutions, we cannot find the political will to destroy our asset base.

You can do your bit by only purchasing fish form sustainable sources � but the challenge can only be met by political, collective action.