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Drivers of global tourism carbon emissions

Author

Listed:
  • Ya-Yen Sun

    (The University of Queensland)

  • Futu Faturay

    (The University of Queensland
    Ministry of Finance Indonesia)

  • Manfred Lenzen

    (The University of Sydney
    Lehmkuhlenbusch 4)

  • Stefan Gössling

    (Western Norway Research Institute
    Linnaeus University)

  • James Higham

    (170 Kessels Road
    University of Otago)

Abstract

Tourism has a critical role to play in global carbon emissions pathway. This study estimates the global tourism carbon footprint and identifies the key drivers using environmentally extended input-output modelling. The results indicate that global tourism emissions grew 3.5% p.a. between 2009-2019, double that of the worldwide economy, reaching 5.2 Gt CO2-e or 8.8% of total global GHG emissions in 2019. The primary drivers of emissions growth are slow technology efficiency gains (0.3% p.a.) combined with sustained high growth in tourism demand (3.8% p.a. in constant 2009 prices). Tourism emissions are associated with alarming distributional inequalities. Under both destination- and resident-based accounting, the twenty highest-emitting countries contribute three-quarters of the global footprint. The disparity in per-capita tourism emissions between high- and low-income nations now exceeds two orders of magnitude. National tourism decarbonisation strategies will require demand volume thresholds to be defined to align global tourism with the Paris Agreement.

Suggested Citation

  • Ya-Yen Sun & Futu Faturay & Manfred Lenzen & Stefan Gössling & James Higham, 2024. "Drivers of global tourism carbon emissions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-54582-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54582-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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