ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the issues raised by environmental economics. Environmental economics involves a wider view of the impact of economic development and growth, taking into account well-being rather than just measuring how much richer people become in monetary terms. Here, issues such as global warming, acid rain and resource depletion have been highlighted as threats to economic growth and even to the future of our species, and critiques and techniques developed by environmental economists can be readily used in the recreation, leisure and tourism sector. This chapter lays the theoretical ground for understanding environmental economics as applied to leisure and tourism. First, it revisits the concept of externalities – especially the undesirable side effects of leisure and tourism on the environment. Next, questions are raised about the validity of measures of success that focus solely on the uncritical use of GNP data. Here, alternative methods of measurement of economic success are discussed which include consideration of the environment and human happiness. Third, the basic circular flow model, at the centre of much traditional macroeconomic analysis, is critiqued and extended to add an environmental dimension. Fourth, the particular economic problem of open-access resources is considered in relation to the environment. The second part of the chapter examines the specific environmental impacts of leisure and tourism both at the local level and at the global level with a particular emphasis on the pressing issues of global warming and the contribution of air travel to this. Finally, the chapter notes that when subjected to environmental scrutiny, the recreation, leisure and tourism sector can display examples of previously unaccounted overall benefits as well as costs. Additionally, as well as being the perpetrator of negative environmental effects, the sector is sometimes the victim of environmental pollution caused elsewhere. This chapter enables the reader to:
understand environmental externalities
distinguish between growth in GNP and growth in well-being
understand a model of the economy that incorporates the significance of resources (sources) and waste disposal capacity (sinks)
analyse environmental impacts
distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources (sources) and analyse the use of such resources
analyse the effects of the existence of open-access resources on resource use
identify the existence of externalities and their contribution to well-being.
