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On The Move
8 June 2022
Blog
A tourist taking a photo
Credit: Unsplash/Pelayo Arbues
A tourist taking a photo
Credit: Unsplash/Pelayo Arbues

Can travel ever be sustainable?

Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world, worth more than 10 per cent of global GDP (around $9 trillion) each year. It is no surprise then that the modern tourist industry – everything from short-haul flights to five-star resorts to cruises and safaris – is responsible for 8 per cent of global emissions.

Of course, tourist destinations not only are a contributing cause of climate change, they are also victims of it. From wildfires in Greece to sea level rises in the Solomon Islands to coral bleaching off the coast of Australia, climate change is severely damaging the very things that tourists fly across the world to see.

Given the sheer size of the global tourism market, can it ever reach the targets laid out in the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism, namely to halve emissions by 2030?

In 2019, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) launched the WTTC Sustainability Action Plan – an initiative to encourage the travel and tourism industries to take stronger and more ambitious action to address climate change. “The sector has grown to be a global economic force. In 2018, it generated 10.4 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product – that’s more than $8.8 trillion,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, at the launch of the initiative.

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, the WTTC launched A Net Zero Roadmap for Travel and Tourism, which outlined how the industry can decarbonize to ensure both the future of travel and tourism, and of our planet.

Yet, much more needs to be done. With the tourism industry forecast to grow by 57 per cent from 2015 to 2030, is it feasible for the industry to reach Net Zero?

“In our Net Zero Roadmap for Travel & Tourism, we propose target corridors for key travel and tourism industries based on whether their emissions are hard-to-abate, easier-to-abate or easy-to-abate,” says Christopher Imbsen, WTTC’s Director of Sustainability.

“The framework proposes that all businesses, where feasible, should aim to reach net zero as soon as they possibly can, rather than just aiming for the 2050 deadline. This will accelerate the overall net zero journey and increase the probability that the sector as a whole will actually reach the 2050 target,” he says.

Jeremy Smith, a sustainable tourism expert and the founder of Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, is also optimistic, pointing to examples of climate actions across all areas of the travel and tourism industry. “I have seen hundreds of examples from companies and organisations of all kinds committed to decarbonising. Now I am a part of the team coordinating the implementation of the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism. Already we have more than 600 signatories ranging from national bodies to SMEs. It is the largest, most diverse and inclusive coalition of stakeholders across our industry.”

Of course, as Smith points out, 600 is a drop in the ocean when it comes to the impact of the tourism industry worldwide. “We need to shift from seeing these exceptional examples as the exception, to making them the norm ­– we need mainstream adoption, and we need it very, very fast,” he says.

According to Imbsen, many areas within the travel and tourism sector have been making progress. “There are signs of progress in all industries. For example, intermediaries/online travel agencies aim to drive more sustainable behaviour in their supply chains through initiatives such as Travalyst. Both the aviation and the cruise industries have set themselves net zero ambition for 2050, and the accommodation industry has recently released a Pathway to Net Positive and also come together, with WTTC’s support, to develop net zero guidance that encompasses complex issues like Scope 3 emissions.”

Despite such progress, is it really feasible for the aviation or cruise industries to ever get to Net Zero, or for that matter to regulate itself?

“Are there any examples of industries successfully self-regulating? I don’t think so,” Smith says. “We need to stop seeing regulation as a barrier, and rather as a framework to support necessary progress. How else will we incentivise and support those companies that are taking the steps forward?”

And although recent years have seen a pushback against mass tourism in cities such as Barcelona and Venice, Smith believes we are seeing a calibration in how many cities look at tourists in a post-COVID world. “Countries, cities, regions are moving from chasing more and more visitors, to focusing on how valuable each visitor can be, and trying to maximise the value they bring while minimising the negative impacts on the climate and other environmental or social issues.”

And if you want to make your travels more climate-friendly, check out our blog post from last year.

 

 

What are Scope 3 Emissions?

Companies GHG emissions are catergorised into three 'scopes':

Scope 1 emissions: direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. For example, from company vehicles, or from an airline's planes.

Scope 2 emissions: indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. For example, emissions from heating an office or the electricity that powers computers.

Scope 3 emissions: all indirect emissions (not included in Scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions. For example, employee's commuting, or the disposal of waste.

As Scope 3 emissions usually account for more than 70 per cent of a business’ carbon footprint, it is crucial that companies tackle Scope 3 emissions to meet the aims of the Paris Agreement and limit global warming to 1.5°C.