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National emissions from tourism: An overlooked policy challenge?

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  • Gössling, Stefan

Abstract

Tourism has been recognized as a significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions sector on a global scale. Yet, only few studies assess tourism's share in national emissions. This paper compares and analyses existing inventories of national emissions from tourism. Studies are difficult to compare, because they use different system boundaries and allocation principles, omitting or including lifecycle emissions and GHG other than CO2. By outlining and analysing these differences, the paper estimates the contribution made by tourism to national emissions, and its greenhouse gas intensity in comparison to other economic sectors. Results indicate that while emissions from tourism are significant in all countries studied, they may, in some countries, exceed ‘official' emissions as calculated on the basis of guidelines for national emission inventories under the Kyoto Protocol. This is a result of the fact that bunker fuels are not considered in national GHG inventories, leading to underestimates of the energy- and GHG intensity of tourism economies. While further growth in tourism emissions can be expected in all countries studied, energy-related vulnerabilities are already considerable in many of these. Climate policy for tourism, on the other hand, is largely non-existent, calling for immediate action to consider this sector in national legislation.

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  • Gössling, Stefan, 2013. "National emissions from tourism: An overlooked policy challenge?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 433-442.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:59:y:2013:i:c:p:433-442
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.03.058
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Howitt, Oliver J.A. & Revol, Vincent G.N. & Smith, Inga J. & Rodger, Craig J., 2010. "Carbon emissions from international cruise ship passengers' travel to and from New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 2552-2560, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yonglian Wang & Lijun Wang & Han Liu & Yongjing Wang, 2021. "The Robust Causal Relationships Among Domestic Tourism Demand, Carbon Emissions, and Economic Growth in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    2. Bright Akwasi Gyamfi & Murad A. Bein & Festus Fatai Adedoyin & Festus Victor Bekun, 2022. "To what extent are pollutant emission intensified by international tourist arrivals? Starling evidence from G7 Countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 7896-7917, June.
    3. Adel Ben Youssef & Adelina Zeqiri, 2020. "Hospitality Industry 4.0 and Climate Change," GREDEG Working Papers 2020-23, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    4. Shaofeng Wu & Yanning Li & Changgan Fang & Peng Ju, 2022. "Energy Literacy of Residents and Sustainable Tourism Interaction in Ethnic Tourism: A Study of the Longji Terraces in Guilin, China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.
    5. Can Tansel TUGCU & Mert TOPCU, 2018. "The impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on tourism: Does the source of emission matter?," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(614), S), pages 125-136, Spring.
    6. Shi, Yan & Du, Yuanyuan & Yang, Guofu & Tang, Yuli & Fan, Likun & Zhang, Jun & Lu, Yijun & Ge, Ying & Chang, Jie, 2013. "The use of green waste from tourist attractions for renewable energy production: The potential and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 410-418.

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