Isabella’s research topic: Exploring the potential of Green Tourism Bonds as a climate financing initiative in Samoa
Green Tourism Bonds are a climate financing initiative that allows the tourism sector to adapt and mitigate to the impacts of climate change through providing financial capital where needed, within sustainable tourism development aspirations. I spent six weeks in Apia, Samoa, where I engaged with the Government of Samoa, the Samoa Tourism Authority, development partners and, tourism operators. These six weeks of field research were imperative to the research findings and for developing a contextual understanding of Samoa. This research found that for Green Tourism Bonds to have potential in Samoa, they would have to align with their sustainable tourism development and climate financing approaches. The Government of Samoa and Samoa Tourism Authority currently face capacity constraints when it comes to accessing international climate finance, which limits the extent and in what way they can assist the private sector (including tourism) and communities. As a result, Green Tourism Bonds are unable to be recommended in the short and medium term, rather implemented on a smaller scale first. This research further found that to achieve more sustainable locally-driven tourism in Samoa, there is a need for all climate financing mechanisms to directly involve the tourism accommodations in Samoa so that they have control over the initiatives that are financed.
Isabella Ptrick , Master’s student, Massey University”
