Case Study 4 Low carbon transition – potentials and limitations for tour operators
DOI: 10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-3288 | ISBN: 978-1-910158-64-7 |
Published: November 2016 | Component type: chapter |
Published in: Low Carbon Mobility Transitions | Parent DOI: 10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-2847 |
Abstract
There is little doubt that emissions from tourism must be reduced. A low carbon transition tends to be debated within the existing growth-centred and fossil fuel-driven political economy; this offers potentials but also sets limitations. The role of businesses in climate change is complex. From a political economy perspective, businesses are crucial actors in reducing emissions, simply through their decisions around products and operations. Yet a political economy approach also sees governance and business as interlinked. Businesses can influence governance, though they do not shape rules and norms in isolation. They are influenced by the dynamic regulatory, discursive, technological, and productive environment, in which they operate. This case study provides evidence from tour operators, which are addressing emissions from their products and operations, but also demonstrates that the context in which tourism businesses operate sets limitations to how much change may be implemented. The chapter argues that debates around a low carbon transition for tourism need to take into consideration the complexity of corporate, economic, environmental, political, and consumer interests and their links and interactions.
Sample content
Contributors
- Melanie Stroebel, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany (Author)
For the source title:
- Debbie Hopkins, Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK (Editor) http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7778-8989
- James Higham, Department of Tourism, University of Otago, NZ and University of Stavanger, Norway (Editor) http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1405-7035
Cite as
Stroebel, 2016
Stroebel, M. (2016) "Case Study 4 Low carbon transition – potentials and limitations for tour operators" In: Hopkins, D. & Higham, J. (ed) . Oxford: Goodfellow Publishers http://dx.doi.org/10.23912/978-1-910158-64-7-3288
Save, bookmark or recommend
 Save on Mendeley |  Share on Twitter |  Share on LinkedIn |  Share on Facebook |
References
Bakker, K. (2005). Neoliberalizing nature? Market environmentalism in water supply in England and Wales, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 95(3), 542-565. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2005.00474.x
BBC (2012). EU suspends extension of plane emissions trading rules, 12 November, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20299388. Accessed: 24 Jan. 2016.
Bulkeley, H. & Newell, P. (2010). Governing Climate Change, Abingdon: Routledge.
Carbon Disclosure Project (2012). CDP 2012 Investor CDP 2012 Information Request: TUI Travel.
Carroll, A.B. & Shabana, K.M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: a review of concepts, research and practice, International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 85–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00275.x
Cohen, S.A., Higham, J.E.S. & Cavaliere, C.T. (2011). Binge flying, Annals of Tourism Research, 38(3), 1070–1089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2011.01.013
Cohen, S.A., Higham, J.E.S. & Reis, A.C. (2013). Sociological barriers to developing sustainable discretionary air travel behaviour, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 21(7), 982–998. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2013.809092
Court of Justice of the European Union (2011). Press Release No 139/11: Judgement in Case C-366/10, Air Transport Association of America and Others v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, 21 December, available at: http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-12/cp110139en.pdf. Accessed 24 Jan. 2016.
Doane, D. (2005). Beyond corporate social responsibility: Minnows, mammoths and markets, Futures, 37(2-3), 215–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2004.03.028
Duffy, R. & Stroebel, M. (2016). Protecting holidays forever: Climate change and the tourism industry, Brown Journal of World Affairs, 22(1), 7-23.
Enders, T. (2012). One born every minute, in G. Lipman; T. Delacy; S. Vorster; R. Hawkins and M. Jiang (eds.), Green Growth and Travelism: Letters from Leaders, Oxford: Goodfellow, 27-32.
European Commission (2016). Reducing emissions from aviation, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/aviation/index_en.htm, accessed; 24 Jan. 2016.
Forum Anders Reisen (n.d.). Reiseperlen 2016, available at: http://konradinheckel.tpk6.de/smart3/pub/reiseperlen-2016/. Accessed 24 Jan. 2016.
Gössling, S. & Peeters, P. (2007). 'It does not harm the environment!' An analysis of industry discourses on tourism, air travel and the environment, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 15(4), 402–417. https://doi.org/10.2167/jost672.0
Gössling, S., Hall, C.M., Peeters, P. & Scott, D. (2010). The future of tourism: Can tourism growth and climate policy be reconciled? A mitigation perspective, Tourism Recreation Research, 35(2), 119-130. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2010.11081628
Gössling, S., Scott, D., Hall, C.M., Ceron, J.-P. & Dubois, G. (2012). Consumer behaviour and demand response of tourists to climate change, Annals of Tourism Research, 39(1), 36-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2011.11.002
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks, edited and translated by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. New York: International Publishers.
Hall, C.M. (2009). Degrowing tourism: Décroissance, sustainable consumption and steady-state tourism, Anatolia, 20(1), 46–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/13032917.2009.10518894
Haufler, V. (2001). A Public Role for the Private Sector: Industry Self-Regulation in a Global Economy, Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Higham, J., Cohen, S.A., Peeters, P. & Gössling, S. (2013). Psychological and behavioural approaches to understanding and governing sustainable mobility, Journal of Sustainable Tourism 21(7), 949-967. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2013.828733
IATA (2013). IATA Technology Roadmap, available at: http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/environment/Documents/technology-roadmap-2013.pdf, viewed 8 Jan. 2016.
Klein, N. (2014). This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. London: Penguin Books.
Kurucz, E., Colbert, B. & Wheeler, D. (2008). The business case for corporate social responsibility, in A. Crane; D. Matten; A. McWilliams; J. Moon & D.S. Siegel (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 83–112.
Lee, D.S., Fahey, D.W., Forster, P.M., Newton, P.J., Wit, R.C.N., Lim, L.L., Owen, B. & Sausen, R. (2009). Aviation and global climate change in the 21 st century, Atmospheric Environment, 43, 3520-3537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.04.024
Levy, D.L. & Egan, D. (2003). A Neo-Gramscian approach to corporate political strategy: Conflict and accommodation in the climate change negotiations, Journal of Management Studies, 40(4), 803–829. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00361
Levy, D.L. & Kaplan, R. (2008). Corporate social responsibility and theories of global governance: Strategic contestations in global issue arenas, in A. Crane; D. Matten; A. McWilliams; J. Moon and D.S. Siegel (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 432-451.
Levy, D.L. & Newell, P. (2005). A Neo-Gramscian approach to business in international environmental politics: an interdisciplinary, multilevel framework, in: D. Levy and P. Newell (eds.) The Business of Global Environmental Governance, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 47-69.
Levy, D. L. & Newell, P. (2006). Multinationals in global governance, in Vachani, S. (ed.) Transformations in Global Governance: Implications for multinationals and other stakeholders. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 146-167. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781847203151.00015
Mayor, K. & Tol, R.S.J. (2010). Scenarios of carbon dioxide emissions from aviation, Global Environmental Change, 20(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.08.001
Newell, P. (2001). Managing multinationals: The governance of investment for the environment, Journal of International Development, 13, 907-919. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.832
Newell, P. (2008a). The political economy of global environmental governance, Review of International Studies, 34, 507-529. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210508008140
Newell, P. (2008b). The Marketization of global environmental governance: Manifestations and implications, in J. Park, K. Conca and M. Finger (eds.) The Crisis of Global Environmental Governance: Towards a New Political Economy of Sustainability, London: Routledge, pp.77–95.
Newell, P. (2012). Globalization and the Environment: Capitalism, Ecology and Power, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Peeters, P. & Dubois, G. (2010). Tourism travel under climate change mitigation constraints, Journal of Transport Geography, 18(3), 447–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2009.09.003
Scherer, A. & Palazzo, G. (2011). The new political role of business in a globalized world: a review of a new perspective on CSR and its implications for the firm, governance, and democracy, Journal of Management Studies, 48(4), 899-931. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00950.x
Scott, D., Peeters, P. & Gössling, S. (2010). Can tourism deliver its 'aspirational' greenhouse gas emission reduction targets?, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 18(3), 393–408. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669581003653542
Thomas Cook Group (2013). New Growth Strategy and Updated Profit Improvement Plans, 13 March 2013, available at: http://www.thomascookgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/130313-CMM-RNS-FINA-LN-C-DOC.pdf. Accessed 8 Jan. 2016.
Thomas Cook Group (2015). Transforming for a Better Future – Year 2: Sustainability Report 2014, available at: https://www.thomascookgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ThomasCook_SR14.pdf. Accessed 5 Jan. 2016.
TUI Group (2015). Sustainable Holidays Report 2014, available at: http://www.tuigroup.com/damfiles/default/tuigroup-15/en/sustainability/tui_group_sustainable_holidays_report_2014-4fece29831504fe07cd5b5eeae5023fd.pdf. Accessed 5 Jan. 2016.
TUI Group (2016). Strategy & Equity Story, available at: http://www.tuigroup.com/en-en/investors/tui-group-at-a-glance/strategy-and-equity-story. Accessed 8 Jan. 2016.
TUI Travel (2010). Sustainable Development Report 2009: Taking on Responsible Leadership, available at: http://www.tuitravelplc.com/system/files/susrep/12009SustainableDevelopmentReport1.pdf. Accessed: 26 Jan. 2016.
TUI Travel (2013). Sustainable Holidays Report 2012: Spreading smiles, available at: http://www.tuitravelplc.com/system/files/susrep/TUI-Travel-PLC-Sustainable-Holidays-Report-2012.pdf. Accessed 26 Jan. 2016.
United Nations (1998). Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf. Accessed 14 March, 2016.
United Nations (2015). Paris Agreement, available at: http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/paris_nov_2015/application/pdf/paris_agreement_english_.pdf. Accessed 14 March 2016.
UNWTO (2008). Climate change and tourism: responding to global challenges, available at: http://www.unep.fr/shared/publications/pdf/WEBx0142xPA-ClimateChangeandTourismGlobalChallenges.pdf. Accessed 3 March 2016.
UNWTO (2012). UNWTO Welcomes the World's One-Billionth Tourist 2012, available at: http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2012-12-13/unwto-welcomes-world-s-one-billionth-tourist. Accessed 26 Jan. 2016.
UNWTO (2014). UNWTO Tourism Highlights: 2014 Edition, available at: www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284416226. Accessed 26 Jan. 2016.