Caribbean Tourism to Be Carbon Neutral

The Caribbean Hotel Association and the Caribbean Tourism Organization have presented a joint paper on the regional tourism industry’s position as it relates to climate change, the major thrust being that Caribbean tourism aims to become ‘carbon-neutral.’

Caribbean tourism depends heavily on the sustainability of its natural and environmental assets and Caribbean countries must not be disadvantaged, or their development efforts curtailed, as a result of mitigation efforts by industrialized, developed countries acting to curtail their own negative impacts on the environment.

These are the two fundamental principles behind the Caribbean Hotel Association’s joint position with the Caribbean Tourism Organization on climate change.

The official position paper states that the Caribbean “should not be penalized as the world’s major economic powers move towards curtailing their past, present, and future impacts on the global climate.”

The paper adds that every effort must be made to ensure that future consumer movements and government action do not deter potential European travelers from taking vacations in the Caribbean.

The CHA and CTO joint position further concedes that while effective taxation plays a part in the widespread approach to reduce carbon monoxide emissions, there is a need to apply such schemes to all transport sectors, not just aviation.

In their joint statement, CHA and CTO also pointed to the potential consequences of transport services passing on the cost of carbon credits to the passengers, which could discourage long-haul travel to the region.