By Chalpat Sonti
Western Australia, 3 August - The federal government might not yet have committed to addressing it, but one of Australia’s largest industries is soon to have the ruler run over it to see how it will cope with climate change.
The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism is looking for a consultant to quantify what greenhouse gas emissions could do to tourism over the next 60 years in order to develop strategies to help the industry cope.
In a briefing document obtained by WAtoday.com.au, the department says the economic modelling should take account of how consumers would respond “based on perception of the impact of travel on the environment”.
It needed to consider low and high emission scenarios, as well as if they remained unchanged, in 2030, 2050, and 2070, and present costs on a state, as well as national, level.
The modelling also needed to take into consideration environmental and asset degradation, and increases in extreme weather events such as storm surges, bushfires, floods, and cyclones, and quantify the amount of money now generated by nature-based tourism activity.
Tourism accounted for about 595,000, or 29 per cent, of the businesses operating in Australia in 2006-07.
The industry directly employed 486,000 and contributed $32.8 billion, or 2.6 per cent, of gross domestic product in 2008-09.
In the same year, it accounted for $23.5 billion, or 8.3 per cent, of the nation’s exports.
A final report is expected to be completed by January.
