Cancun As the Setting for COP16

Since the day I discovered COP16 was going to be in Cancun, the question has continually occurred to me, why has such a tourist filled place been chosen to host the conference when a green revolution capitol like Copenhagen held it just the year before? The answer was always right in front of me and I didn’t even realize it. Cancun is one of the most desired travel destinations in the world and has brought jobs to the more than 1 million citizens that reside in the city. On a tour to the state of Yucatan to visit the historical site Chichen Itza, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of Cancun’s residents, Avelino (Ave).  Ave is one of the many guides who earn a living by becoming thoroughly educated in their country’s history through Universities and spreading that knowledge to tourists through government agencies. While discussing the various sites and natural wonders of Cancun, a discussion of climate change arose between Mr. Johnson and Ave, leading Ave to say, “the population of Cancun 35 years ago was just 150 fisherman and their families, they fished for a living, now there are more than 1 million citizens…and 28 km of hotels along the coast." Tourism is one of the top economic resources that Mexico can use sustainably for years to come. Still, it's value is underutilized when it is not used to educate people, and great improvement could be made in this area. Additionally, the natural resources that tourists come to see are being threatened by climate change.

As we saw on our tour, thousands of Mayan people and their descendents depend on tourists to buy handcrafted goods because those are the only jobs where they can earn a decent living and improve their lives. If ocean levels were to rise, temperatures to fluctuate, or biodiversity to be lost, Mexico's large ecotourism industry would be negatively impacted and a large amount of the population would be without jobs.  Before I viewed the host city of COP16 as a leader of the forward movement to sustainability, but now I see that we should focus in on what we see in Cancun this year, because they have the most to lose, and it very well may be gone soon.