The decarbonisation impasse: global tourism leaders’ views on climate change mitigation

Figures & data

Table 1. Tourism leader positions on climate change.

Anthropogenic climate change is occurring and a threat to society	Consensus that global climate is already changing, and that this has human causes. Severe impacts for tourism and transport are anticipated.
GHG emissions need to be reduced	Agreement that emissions of greenhouses gases need to be reduced, and that the tourism sector has the same obligation to contribute as all other economic sectors.
Continued tourism growth	Continued growth in tourism is considered inevitable. Many industry leaders advocated for further strong growth, while others expressed caution about continued growth projections and their assumptions.
Sub-sector contributions to climate change and progress on mitigation	Differing views on the relevance of specific tourism sub-sectors in contributing to climate change (e.g., air travel or hotels), as well as progress made on slowing emissions growth within these sub-sectors.
Decarbonisation and technology	Disagreement on the role and potential of technology to contribute to emission reductions; most leaders are optimistic, but some are concerned about the rate of innovation and deployment.
Climate leadership	Diverse positions on mitigation leadership, opportunities, and whether progress has been made on decarbonisation. Concerns expressed over “greenwash” versus measureable progress needed for carbon risk disclosure.
Climate governance	Fundamentally different positions on importance of climate regulation, and the role of governments in leading decarbonisation efforts.
Market-based measures	Differing views on the importance and reliance on market-based mechanisms to curb emissions and support low-carbon innovation.
Barriers to progress	Leaders outlined a range of barriers preventing significant emission reductions.
The way forward	Different opinions as to how to proceed on emission reductions.

Table 2. A typology of tourism leaders’ perspectives of decarbonisation.

Issue	Decarbonisation Leaders	Technological Optimists	Carbon Economy Conservatives
Mitigation timelines	Immediate action needed, in line with other sectors	Action to become relevant in near future, though difficult to achieve absolute emission reductions	Tourism emissions negligible, no urgency to act
Sector Emission Trends	Increasing, limited capacity to measure and monitor any progress toward reduction ambitions	Future technologies and offsetting will “reverse” emissions trajectory	Tourism is already reducing its emissions and making strong progress towards emission targets
Tourism Growth	Growth model needs to be discussed and replaced	Possible to align growth with decarbonisation needs	Growth more important than mitigation
Technology Solutions	Technology will make major contribution to decarbonisation	Technology will resolve issue, along with other measures and offsetting	Innovation will resolve problem
Governance Solutions	Governance needed to speed up technology innovation, influence travel behaviour	Some governance needed, including support for biofuel development	Governance unnecessary and even detrimental to resolving problem

Table 3. Examples of contested positions on decarbonisation.

Leader held position	Science-policy evidence
Effects of non-CO2 emissions unclear	Non-CO2 emissions make significant contribution to global warming (Lee et al., 2009; Penner, 1999).
Aviation is as efficient or even more efficient than surface-bound transportation with respect to GHG emissions	Both cars and in particular railways are more efficient than aircraft. The view also ignores non-CO2 effects and transport ranges, as air travellers usually cover thousands of kilometres (Peeters et al., 2007).
Jet fuel is already expensive, no government intervention with carbon taxes needed	International jet fuel remains untaxed, while considerable subsidies have been documented for international aviation (Gössling et al., 2017).

Lee, D. S., Fahey, D. W., Forster, P. M., Newton, P. J., Wit, R. C. N., Lim, L. L., … Sausen, R. (2009). Aviation and global climate change in the 21st century. Atmospheric Environment, 43(22–23), 3520–3537.

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Penner, J. E. (1999). Aviation and the global atmosphere: a special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Peeters, P., Szimba, E., & Duijnisveld, M. (2007). Major environmental impacts of European tourist transport. Journal of Transport Geography, 15(2), 83–93.

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Gössling, S., Fichert, F., & Forsyth, P. (2017). Subsidies in aviation. Sustainability, 9(8), 1295.

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