This book examines the “oil-tourism interface”, the broad range of direct and indirect contact points between offshore oil extraction and nature-based tourism. Offshore oil extraction and nature-based tourism are pursued as development paths across the North Atlantic region. Offshore oil promises economic benefits from employment and royalty payments to host societies, but is based on fossil fuel-intensive resource extraction. Nature-based tourism, instead, is based on experiencing natural environments and encountering wildlife, including whales, seals, or seabirds. They share social-ecological space, such as oceans, coastlines, cities and towns where tourism and offshore oil operations and offices are located. However, they rarely share cultural or political space, in terms of media coverage, public debate, or policy discussion that integrates both modes of development. Through a comparative analysis of Denmark, Iceland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Norway, and Scotland, this book offers important lessons for how coastal societies can better navigate relationships between resource extraction and nature-based tourism in the interests of social-ecological wellbeing.

Climate change is a major problem, generating both risks and opportunities that will have a direct impact on the economy and the financial sector. In recent years, climate change has threatened both the survival of the financial system and economic development. The growing occurrence of extreme climate events combined with the imprudent nature of economic growth can cause unsustainable levels of harm to the financial sectors. On the other hand, it presents a range of new business challenges. In contrast to the most evident physical risks, companies are vulnerable to transformational risks that arise from the reaction of society to climate change, such as technological change, regulation and markets that can boost the cost of doing business, threats to the profitability of existing goods, or effects on the value of the asset. Climate change also offers new business opportunities, and it has made research in the context of a sustainable financial sector indispensable. The Handbook of Research on Climate Change and the Sustainable Financial Sector focuses on the impacts of climate change on various sectors of the world economy. This book covers how businesses can improve their sustainability, the impact of climate change on the financial sector, and specifically, the impacts on financial services, supply chains, and the socio-economic status of the world. Beyond focusing on the impacts to the financial industry itself, this book assesses how climate change in the financial sector affects the well-being of society in areas such as unemployment, economic recessions, decreases in consumer purchases, and more. This book is essential for stockbrokers, business managers, directors, fund managers, financial analysts, consultants and actuaries, institutional investors, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in a comprehensive view of the impact of climate change on the financial sector.

Despite its tiny size and seeming marginality to world affairs, the Central American republic of Costa Rica has long been considered an important site for experimentation in cutting-edge environmental policy. From protected area management to ecotourism to payment for environmental services (PES) and beyond, for the past half-century the country has successfully positioned itself at the forefront of novel trends in environmental governance and sustainable development. Yet the increasingly urgent dilemma of how to achieve equitable economic development in a world of ecosystem decline and climate change presents new challenges, testing Costa Rica’s ability to remain a leader in innovative environmental governance. This book explores these challenges, how Costa Rica is responding to them, and the lessons this holds for current and future trends regarding environmental governance and sustainable development. It provides the first comprehensive assessment of successes and challenges as they play out in a variety of sectors, including agricultural development, biodiversity conservation, water management, resource extraction, and climate change policy. By framing Costa Rica as an “ecolaboratory,” the contributors in this volume examine the lessons learned and offer a path for the future of sustainable development research and policy in Central America and beyond.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of and discussion about the relationship between green tourism, economic growth and globalization. It explores numerous topics relating to tourism including transport efficiency, foreign direct investment, clean energy, climate change dynamics and advances in sustainable tourism management. The book begins with discussion of sustainable tourism and economic growth, particularly focusing on management strategies. It then presents the relationship between energy use and tourism, looking at green energy and energy shock. It then discusses transport efficiency, tourism efficiency and financial growth in both developed and developing countries. This book is of interest to researchers, policymakers, and postgraduate students in the areas of energy, environmental and tourism economics.

The concept of the green economy has now entered mainstream policy debates and been endorsed by a range of United Nations and other organizations. The Rio+20 UN conference specifically drew attention to the green economy approach in the context of sustainable development to move away from business-as-usual practices, act to end poverty, address environmental destruction and build a bridge to the sustainable future. It is increasingly recognized that the tourism sector can make a major contribution to the green economy through more sustainable practices, climate change mitigation and ecotourism. The role of tourism sector will continue to be crucial in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda too. However, there are ambiguities about how tourism and allied industries can maximize their contribution to human well-being and ensure environmentally sustainability, embracing issues of political economy, geography and business ethics. In this context, this book provides consensus about what the green economy entails, what role tourism can play in a green economy, early responses from many countries, on-going and emerging research initiatives that will enable tourism’s transition to a green economy. The chapters address three key themes: understanding the Green Economy concept and the role of tourism; responses and initiatives in greening tourism; and emerging techniques and research implications. A wide range of case studies from around the world and in different contexts is included to demonstrate the extent of the challenge and range of opportunities for the tourism industry.

Offering an overview of worldwide ecotourism, showing how both the concept and the reality have evolved, this book examines the growth of ecotourism within the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya and South Africa, their political systems and their economic policies.

This book bridges the gap between the vital issues of the tourism industry, practices and destinations, discussing various topics from Asian and African perspectives. Each chapter presents extensive research on tourism development and tourism education, people’s work and travel experiences, as well as broader philosophies concerning the global tourism industry’s practices and operations. In the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, 12 and 14, the book highlights the potential of tourism to contribute to economic growth, social inclusion and environmental preservation. It discusses crucial issues confronting the travel and tourism industry, presenting achievable outlines and strategy plans, and evaluating general theories, practices, and applications of social, economic and environmental aspects of management structure to maximize the cultural, social and ecological diversity of destinations and enhance the tourism experience. Providing a comprehensive guide to tourism and its related disciplines, it offers students, professors, entrepreneurs, and travel and tourism organizations insights into the trends, practices. Further, it features case studies ranging from historical and contemporary tourism to forecasts for future tourism.

Since the middle of the last century, rapid population growth and urbanization have led to the encroachment of a large number of natural spaces, resulting in a series of ecological security issues such as environmental pollution, resource depletion and habitat destruction, which have severely challenged global sustainable development. Urban ecological security is an important barrier to urban residents' production and life, the foundation and core of national or regional ecological security, and it is of great significance to promote green development and harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. With global warming, frequent natural disasters and other multifactorial threats, the issue of ecological security in cities as centers of the settlement have become a focus of international attention. However, cities are complex systems with social, economic and natural conditions coupled with each other. Under the overlapping of many factors, the basic problems such as the mechanism of urban development on ecological security have not been fully explained, and there is also a lack of quantitative assessment methods corresponding to urban ecological conditions, let alone simulation and prediction.

Walking tourism is one of the most popular ways to experience a destination. It allows to engage with local people, nature and culture, and meets the growing demand of travellers of outdoor activities. Walking tourism can be developed anywhere as a sustainable tourism offer and can bring social and economic benefits for local communities.

This book has been prepared keeping in mind rapid changes taking place in the land-locked economy of Nepal seated in the lap of Great Himalaya where tourism is expected to contribute in a big way. Salient Features - Analyzes economic impact of tourism growth on various aspects of the Nepalese economy. - Explores the role of tourism on globalization of this backward economy. - Attempts to incorporate important studies undertaken in this context. - Incorporates opinions of leading experts on tourism promotion and economic development exclusively for this book. - Thoroughly reviews contours of changes in tourism policy. - Well documented in terms of source of tourism information, institutions and chronological highlights, etc. In view of the above, this piece of work would be of immense use to policy makers, planners, researchers, practioners and also to students for whom sufficient materials have been added.