Checking In with Professor James Higham

While on holiday in Central Otago in January, my wife Linda and I climbed Ben Lomond, the peak overlooking Queenstown above the Skyline Gondola. The views from the saddle and the summit were spectacular. But what we saw on the track to the summit was concerning. That was the uncontrolled germination of windblown wilding pines that are rapidly transforming and destroying the natural and iconic Central Otago alpine landscape. But what can we do to slow and reverse this unfolding ecological disaster?

It is hard to reconcile climate change and climate denial when you are regularly exposed to new research findings from world-leading climate scientists. But climate change denial still exists, all the way from our social media feeds to the White House. Trying to convince firm deniers is futile. So I look elsewhere for inspiration on climate action, and I have found it in the concept of ‘stabilisation wedges’ - and in The Hague, of all places.

We live in chaotic and turbulent times. I don’t know quite where to begin with the two weeks that have passed since my last podcast. So much has happened and so much has changed. Most of it has been driven from Washington DC and it has been wall-to-wall bad news. But the response has been decisive and reassuring. Consumer power is being exercised. The oligarchs are beyond our direct line of slight, but the Oligarchy is not beyond our reach. What is happening in these turbulent times has implications for tourism. Fortunately there are pockets of resistance which reassure us that the links between tourism and science remain intact. 

Last week marked five years since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in New Zealand. In the same week Statistics New Zealand reported that international tourism has returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. Those are two very important milestones to contemplate. It has taken five years but now that we are back to 2019 levels of tourism it is timely to consider where to from here? And specifically what ever happened to the post-COVID tourism re-set? 

My return to work this year coincided with several tourism announcements from the New Zealand government. Its announcements amount to a slash and burn approach to economic growth, and blind focus on tourism growth without concerns for those who live with tourism. The current government’s plans for the visitor economy are void of any thinking or any evidence of commitment to sustainable tourism.  

Last week on Wednesday our paper on global tourism emissions was finally published online. It was a long road to publication and the results reported in the paper are sobering. But most importantly the paper also provides rich and detailed insights that serve as a strong starting point for governments and industry organisations that are serious about reducing tourism carbon emissions.  

There is a longstanding debate in sustainable tourism, as to the tourist markets that are most worthy of our marketing efforts. Much of the debate centres on affluence which is assumed to link directly to economic impacts. But there is increasing evidence to suggest that in terms of a commitment to sustainable tourism development, the most affluent visitors may be best avoided. 

Can we travel without contributing to climate change? The answer is yes, we can, but to arrive at solutions we have to rethink the relationship between speed, distance and time. In doing so we will rediscover the journey itself.