Tourism carbon emissions four times worse than thought

WEALTHY holidaymakers’ spending on travel has contributed to a sharp rise in tourism’s carbon footprint to a level four times worse than previously thought.

Scientists discovered that worldwide tourism accounts for eight per cent of the world’s carbon emissions – a figure which was previously thought to be between two and three per cent.

The biggest single contributor to the tourism carbon footprint was international air travel, which in turn was fuelled by growing affluence. The researchers also looked at other spending abroad in the 18-month study, delving into consumables such as eating out and private transport, as well as the life cycle of other spending that affects the environment.

Dr Arunima Malik from the University of Sydney, the lead author of the study, said: “If you have visitors from high-income countries then they typically spend heavily on air travel, on shopping and hospitality where they go to. But if the travellers are from low-income countries then they spend more on public transport and unprocessed food, the spending patterns are different for the economies they come from.” The study, published in Nature Climate Change, found that travellers from Canada, Switzerland, Holland and Denmark exert a much higher carbon footprint elsewhere than in their own countries.

Dr Ya-yen Sun, a researcher from the University of Queensland, said: “Given that tourism is set to grow faster than many other economic sectors, the international community may consider its conclusion in the future in climate commitments such as the Paris Accord, by tying international flights to specific nations.”