ID: 2001
Presenting Author: Mia Fant
Session: 572 - Fit For Future and Act at Present: Impact Assessment for Leveraging Challenges and Opportunities from Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Status: pending
: Integrating Climate Risk Assessment into ESIA methodology to enable Regenerative Tourism development
Red Sea Global (RSG) is developing world-class tourism destinations along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, contributing to Vision 2030 by shaping the future of sustainable travel and tourism through environmental enhancement and regenerative development. Tourism destinations located in vulnerable coastal and island settings face increasing climate-related challenges that threaten long-term sustainability and ecosystems, particularly in arid environments such as the Red Sea region. To address these challenges, RSG has integrated climate risk evaluation within its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) framework, aligning with regenerative principles and global climate goals. This paper will present RSG’s methodology which embeds climate hazard screening, vulnerability mapping, and adaptive capacity evaluation into each phase of the ESIA, including methodology supports implementation of bespoke sustainability requirements of recent LEED v.5 and projects to move beyond “do no harm” approaches toward net-positive climate, social and ecological outcomes. The proposed framework embeds climate hazard screening, vulnerability mapping, and adaptive capacity evaluation into each ESIA phase—baseline assessment, impact prediction, and management planning. By linking climate action planning with the ESIA process, the methodology provides a practical pathway to operationalize climate adaptation, mitigation, and biodiversity regeneration within our development programs. Climate-integrated ESIA is a powerful decision-support tool to future-proof destinations.
Director for Environmental Assessment at Red Sea Global, passionate about advancing environmental sustainability. climate resilience and regenerative development.
Coauthor 1: Suresh Kumar Perumal