Faced with the growing challenges brought by climate change, adaptation is essential. In the Quebec tourism sector, shortened winters and extreme weather events, such as floods and storms, are forcing stakeholders to mobilize to rethink their practices and adapt their offer.
Adaptation to climate change consists of adapting our lifestyles, our infrastructure and our policies to better cope with environmental upheavals. This concerns all sectors, including tourism, which includes business travel and professional events. The Ouranos consortium thus set up the Adaptation to climate change cohort, dedicated to tourism, in partnership with the Maison de l’innovation sociale and the Montreal innovation incubator MT Lab.
The initiative supports and brings together 23 tourist associations and partners of the Quebec Ministry of Tourism so that they can collectively determine concrete actions. “The sector is vulnerable due to its close link with the territory and the seasons, so companies face multiple impacts and questions,” underlines Laurence Coulombe, head of the Tourism cohort at Ouranos. During meetings and conferences, they reflect on how to adapt or rethink their offer according to current and future climate realities. »
This change can involve the diversification of the activities offered, to avoid dependence on a single season, or by forecasting the costs linked to climate upheavals. Tourisme Montréal has launched the Climate Change Emergency and Adaptation Fund, intended for festivals and outdoor events that face major, unforeseen climatic challenges leading to unanticipated financial losses. The discussion also focuses on ways to reduce the ecological footprint of tourist infrastructures. We can think about investing in sustainable practices, such as public transportation or renewable energies. Particular attention is also paid to “maladaptation”, according to Laurence Coulombe, that is to say false solutions which could aggravate problems or generate negative effects in the longer term.
Empowering businesses
Adaptation to climate change cannot therefore be limited to economic survival alone, but must be seen as an opportunity to rethink practices and protect ecosystems while reducing climate-related vulnerabilities. Indeed, the United Nations Environment Program emphasizes that well-designed solutions reduce backlash, but also strengthen biodiversity and protect local communities.
Danielle Landry founded the microenterprise De ville en bois for this reason. “I really believe in tourism as a lever for raising awareness and educating people about the protection of natural environments. People visit places they love, which is a good starting point to educate them on how to limit their impact. » The Leave No Trace program, which she promotes, teaches the basic principles to apply to preserve nature, in particular to reduce the impact of human activities on soil, water and wildlife.
In business tourism, more particularly, the key lies in corporate accountability. The largest companies should therefore adopt a solid sustainable development policy. “Smaller ones can start by applying the seven Leave No Trace principles,” suggests M.me Landry. Planning your activities to avoid unforeseen events, such as finding yourself camping in a fragile area, and staying on trails to prevent erosion and habitat degradation are part of this. Others, more obvious, but not always respected, are responsible waste management and minimal use of fire to protect sensitive ecosystems. Other best practices recommended for organizations include forming smaller groups and using shuttles for travel.
An educational effort
Danielle Landry notes a growing interest in these practices, although there is still a long way to go. “People are not educated enough about the impacts of their activities. There is a desire to protect, but we don’t really know how,” she observes. Every step in a forest, every car parked near a lake can contribute to degrading the soil and disturbing wildlife. She calls for increased signage and efforts to preserve sensitive areas, such as the banks of bodies of water, where many species of birds and amphibians live.
Local and regional governance also has a central role to play in supervising and supporting more sober, responsible and local tourism. The Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, for example, is increasingly focusing on regenerative tourism, which is on the rise. This approach goes beyond sustainable tourism, implying that “the person who travels is engaged and participates in the restoration of a community, a territory or ecosystems, without compromising their well-being”, according to Sustainable tourism Quebec.
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