KEY POINTS:
An environmental tax should be placed on airline travel to help finance solutions to climate change, a New Zealand expert has told the Australian tourism industry.
Professor Michael Hall told the Ecotourism Australia Conference in Townsville that while the tourism industry was being affected by climate change, it also was contributing to it.
The revenue raised from a tax could go towards helping reduce the effects of climate change, said Prof Hall, a professor in tourism at the University of Otago business school.
After the conference, he said one of the big problems in tourism was greenhouse gas emissions.
A tax on airlines could help to manage the effect of tourism on the environment.
"Most of the emissions come from the transport side of things," he said.
"But when it comes to looking at the environmental effects of greenhouse gas emissions, transport is put to one side and forgotten about."
A tax, which could be as little as A$25 ($29) for an overseas flight, could be used, for example, to pay for a tree-planting scheme.
Professor Hall said some European countries, including Sweden, had such taxes on domestic and international travel.
But Australia should be leading the way because of its "clean, green" image.
Governments also should consider giving aviation and transport companies a carbon allowance.
"You can have like a carbon credit card," he said. "If you go through your ration and want to go beyond that, you have to pay for it."
Professor Hall said climate change was affecting the tourism industry through rising sea levels and more frequent storms, floods and droughts.
The industry was not ready for its effects, particularly the threat of new diseases likely to be spread as a result of more cyclones and storms.
"Dengue fever is already endemic in northern Queensland, and there's also the possibility that with climate change we may well have other tropical diseases such as malaria," he said.
"In some parts of northern Australia, warnings similar to those given to travellers before they go to South Africa may have to be considered."
- AAP
