Presentation to World Travel Market by Dick Sisman, founder of TICOS

The tourism industry carbon offset service was founded for three reasons:

To help tourism businesses to understand the issues that they and their customers face in relation to climate change
To help the industry to develop appropriate policies to address the impacts of climate change
To develop a systematic way for companies to support climate change initiatives, one of which is carbon offsetting

Before doing anything else I want to debunk the myth that offsetting is not a legitimate course of action or that it is a soft option allowing business as usual. It is not. In my experience in working with over 30 companies representing hundreds of thousands of customers I have found that these are the very same companies and consumers who are in fact also making serious attempts to reduce their CO₂ as well. So offsetting should be seen as a legitimate and additional tool within wider climate change policies and indeed in a wider sustainable development programme at both a business and personal level.

When I was asked to set up TICOS 18 months ago this was because of a vacuum in current projects and programmes at that time as none addressed the specific issues or needs of the travel and tourism industry. Neither the regulatory framework nor the voluntary programmes dealt with issues that the industry faced.

We have achieved much in the past year and I would like to thank those who have worked with me to develop TICOS: Hugh Somerville, Stefan Gossling and John Swarbrooke in particular. All three have provided a valuable input to helping to create what is now being recognised as a robust service available to all companies in the industry who are serious about tackling climate change.

We have addressed many of the very complex technical issues and developed a range of tools to help companies through the support of a range of new projects with significant climate change benefits in tourism destinations. For example we have addressed the contentious issue of the role of tree planting in offsetting; how to deal with additionality and double counting as well as seeking to develop a high quality service, at low cost.

Our latest project, on which Stefan has worked very hard, is to develop a new industry validation and verification standard which incorporates the best technical requirements of the Gold Standard but goes beyond this to become the toughest test for new offset projects to ensure that they are both robust and meet all targets and objectives.

We have battled many frustrations in this first full year of TICOS. The reality is that much of what we see and hear about climate change has either been politicised, turned to commercial advantage or subject to scientific disagreement. Whilst much of this may be resolved by a 'settling down' period after massive publicity and hysteria I have identified five key requirements which will both improve confidence and quality within climate change action programmes.

These are as follows:

FIVE KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS

The development of climate change policies, projects and programmes within a wider Global Tourism agenda. Climate change is a key issue but policies should address it within the wider global agenda which includes; environmental protection, pro poor benefits, biodiversity, social, economic and educational goals. Those of you who have worked in this arena for a long time will remember the development of responsible tourism from its early days as green tourism and then sustainable tourism. This took almost 20 years but time for climate change action should be much shorter.
The determination of one consistent basis for science and carbon calculations at an international level. This should be developed at an inter Governmental level by a reputable body such as the UN or IPCC. The UK Government (through DEFRA) has attempted to produce a national calculator but this leads to other countries doing the same. In fact we work with one company that has very different figures for the same flights depending whether it is Australia to England and return or England to Australia and return. One international calculator would resolve this.
A new strategic approach to climate change policies which includes offsetting through a high standard such as the TICOS validation and verification standard.This must include both best practice and due diligence. Currently all offsetting within both the mandatory and voluntary markets lacks any strategic objectivity. CER's in particular are all one offs and via company application rather than through targeted strategic objectives or geographic focus. For example we are looking to develop strategic objectives with UNESCO for new projects in World Heritage Sites. These are some of our most fragile and heavily visited places and often under great threat from climate change.
Industry bodies should work in partnership and not in competition as climate change affects all of our interests. TICOS is currently working with: AITO, ABTA, The Scottish Tourism Innovation Group, Friends of Conservation, UNESCO and IUCN and is seeking closer working relationships with Defra. Our new work with TIG will seek to develop projects with many of the leading Scottish Agencies and NGO's. Already we have dialogue with The Cairngorms National Park, BTCV, Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Woodland Trust amongst others.
Policies should not only address the causes but also the effects of Climate change. A new dynamic is needed to climate proof businesses to ensure that they can continue to operate within a changing World. Major organisations like the World Bank are looking at climate proofing investments through more rigorous design standards and Defra and other agencies are adding climate change to impact analysis for developments in flood plains and elsewhere. Tourism businesses need to understand likely impacts on their medium term viability.

I want to conclude this presentation with one last observation which is about why I feel so passionate that those of you who want to develop and support climate change programmes should choose to put your funds into projects which have wider sustainable development benefits.

The reality is that the major sources of man made CO₂ pollution stem from the industrialised societies, but the main impacts of the changes caused by climate change will be met at a human level by those in countries which do not have the infrastructure or capacity to defend against sea level rise and increased temperatures. This also applies to other species and the range of biodiversity which may be severely damaged.

We may not have any legal duty of care, but in this industry we depend heavily upon our hosts in tourism destinations and they are both our friends, business providers and partners. We also depend upon the biodiversity of cultures, landscapes and flora and fauna.

My appeal to you is to select your programme of choice and to engage in understanding what it offers. Look behind the labels and ensure that the money you help to raise or the support you give is being wisely used. Simply giving to a company without knowing exactly where your own or customer money goes, or buying a certified reduction unit for a project without wider sustainability benefits is simply not the right answer for the travel and tourism industry.

Dick Sisman
TICOS founder
14 November 2007
dick@dicksisman.com