Caso de uso y redacción de la Tesis Doctoral (quinto año)

This section addresses the second research objective: exploring stakeholder perceptions of the public policies in place to address climate change risks and examining their public policy preferences for climate change management. Prior to collecting data about their views on the public policies, participants were asked to list the impacts they consider the most serious for tourism to identify aspects requiring attention.

6.4.1 Effects of climate change on tourism

All of the interviewees were acutely aware of the dependence of tourism on environmental features. The impacts of climate change identified as most important include:

x Sea level rise causing beach erosion x Flooding

x Coastal zone degradation x Biodiversity loss

x Impacts on landscapes other than beaches x Uncomfortably high temperatures

x Too many rainy days, and therefore fewer sunny days

For two NGO members, government policy will cause further damage to the tourism products of Mauritius.

89 The government policy is to increase the number of tourists but increasing the

number has an impact on the environment as well as on the number of hotels that needs to be constructed. [...] Mauritius will reach a point when it will no longer have the environment to attract the tourists (NGO2).

The quality of our beaches is continuously deteriorating and we do not get the same quality of tourism. Now they [the government ministries] are expanding [the markets]. They are going towards China, etc. When we talk with them, skippers tell us that Asian tourists are not like European tourists, who are more environmentally conscious. They just use the beach and then leave (NGO1).

Only one industry manager expressed concern about the combined effects of these government policies and climate change for tourism.

Authorities want to attract two million tourists per year in the coming years. How will we supply such a large number of tourists with food, water and electricity? Water desalination maybe (Property Manager of La Margarita Hotel).

La Margarita Hotel is the smallest hotel of the sample. As determined in Section 6.2, its property manager has a lower risk perception compared to other participants. Nevertheless, he demonstrated an awareness of the indirect impacts of climate change, possibly due to the hotel’s small size, and therefore, higher vulnerability to these threats.

Two government officials mentioned the social and economic implications of a destabilised tourism industry.

Tomorrow if there is a problem in the tourism industry, it will be a big social issue for Mauritius. The number of people who will lose their jobs, the number of people who have invested in the business. If tourists stop coming, then... (GOV2).

It is not only the tourism industry that will suffer, but also all the other activities related with the tourism industry: the food industry, transport because they have taxis linked to them, so many jobs linked to them. And you have other places, restaurants, where people [tourists] go, and the places where they go to buy local products. All these indirectly associated activities would be affected if tourists move away from our country (Mr. J. Lobin, Chief Health Inspector at the Black River District Council and part-time lecturer at the University of Mauritius).

90 6.4.2 Effectiveness of public policies

To determine the effectiveness of climate change policies relevant for tourism in Mauritius, the participants were first asked if they were aware of these policies. Most of the participants have low or no awareness of climate change policies for tourism in Mauritius. More than half of the participants (9) acknowledged being unaware of any climate change policies specifically for tourism. Therefore, they were unable to comment on their effectiveness. They included four hotel managers, the three members of NGOS, one academic and one government official.

Two government officials named different government bodies, such as the Disaster Risk Reduction Committee and the Ministry of Environment, that are responsible for managing climate change effects. According to one, in-depth research is not conducted before formulating and implementing policies and other actions. More specifically, modelling software is not used to predict the effects of development on coastal dynamics. Consequently, implemented actions prove to be less effective than expected. Nevertheless, the interviewee highlighted that significant effort is being put into the management of coastal environmental issues.

The second government official, who works within a district council, stated that policies for the construction and maintenance of drains are effective. Another government official listed several actions, such as tree planting on beaches and coastal rehabilitation, which are being implemented by various authorities, without commenting on their effectiveness.

Two industry managers stated that they are aware of the existence of a national climate change strategy. However, they were certain that the policies are not being implemented.

There is no follow-up. There is no policing. There are no whistle-blowers. There is no monitoring. There is no awareness. There is no sensitisation about these policies. There is no campaign being done across the country to tell us what to do. [...] We cannot say they are effective since they are being unable to put it in place. The policies are here but they are not practically being implemented (Mr. A. Coonjun, Director of Engineering at The St Regis Mauritius Resort).

Only two participants, an academic and a government official, identified the National Climate Change Adaptation Policy Framework (NCCAPF) as the main policy document for climate change in Mauritius. According to the government official, the desired level of success is

91 difficult to achieve due to financial constraints. The academic did not know to what extent the policies are being implemented.

We don’t know because it’s never been publicised. It’s never brought to the

attention of stakeholders. Universities are not aware of it [...] University should have been a major contributor. They are the most important generator of research output (Dr. R. Nunkoo, Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Management at the University of Mauritius).

6.4.3 Preferred public policies

The participants were asked which types of policies they prefer for the management of climate change risks. The preferred policy mentioned by all the participants is education and raising awareness among the general population of Mauritius.

When we have the means to make ourselves heard at COP21 and we are in the SIDS etc., we tend to believe that we are very well informed but I think that lay people are not necessarily well informed. They understand things like the environment, water ways, wastes, etc. But about climate change, what is it? What are we doing to reduce it? To slow it down and manage the changes? I do not think that people are fully aware (Mr. J. Kwok, CEO of AHRIM).

Six participants, including five industry managers and one academic, advocated for stronger

mitigation measures by authorities. The industry managers consistently asked “What is being done by the authorities to reduce climate change?” and two argued that targets for reducing

carbon emissions have to be set. The academic and one industry manager further suggested the implementation of a carbon taxation system.

The NGO representatives interviewed supported stricter policies for environmental conservation, including lagoon management, designating specific zones for snorkelling and diving, increasing coastal setbacks and the use of fixed mooring buoys.

Only one government official stated that Mauritius needs to adapt more than mitigate its GHG emissions. The participant stated that although both mitigation and adaptation are needed, Mauritius must focus on adaptation since it is among the most vulnerable countries. He stressed the need for coastal protection works. Another government official mentioned the importance of diversifying the tourism industry:

92 We should not solely focus on our beaches but we should move inland as well. To

have a nice place where tourists will be attracted, we have to make it as beautiful as the sea and sand by having green spaces. For example we have the gorges, and we have the folkloric dance and all that. […] They are very interesting and unique to Mauritius (Mr. J. Lobin, Chief Health Inspector at the Black River District Council and part-time lecturer at the University of Mauritius).