Carbon neutral destinations: a conceptual analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a critical review of the concept of “carbon neutrality” for tourism destinations within the framework of the UNWTO's Davos Declaration, a document ascribing responsibilities to various actors in the tourism industry to engage in greenhouse gas emission reductions. The paper assesses the planning frameworks of countries engaging with the concept, discusses the measures that can be taken to achieve “carbon neutrality”, along with an evaluation of some of the theoretical and practical implications. An increasing number of destinations now plan to become “carbon neutral”, often as a response strategy to pressure on the tourism industry to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. They aim to mitigate their contribution to global warming, and to develop their tourism industries by enhancing their image as being environmentally pristine and sustainable.

Keywords:

• aviation
• carbon neutral
• climate change
• mitigation
• offsetting
• sustainable tourism

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to numerous colleagues, including Bernard Lane, Kim Schumacher, Robert Müller, Martha Honey, Carlo Aall, Paul Peeters, John Broderick, Susanne Becken and Daniel Scott for providing information or advice on the first draft of this paper. All views expressed in this paper are entirely my own.

Notes

1. Radiative forcing is the change in the net, downward minus upward, irradiance (expressed in W m⁻²) at the tropopause due to a change in an external driver of climate change, such as, for example, a change in the concentration of carbon dioxide or the output of the Sun. Radiative forcing is computed with all tropospheric properties held fixed at their unperturbed values, and after allowing for stratospheric temperatures, if perturbed, to readjust to radiative-dynamical equilibrium. Radiative forcing is called instantaneous if no change in stratospheric temperature is accounted for. For the purposes of this report, radiative forcing is further defined as the change relative to the year 1750 and, unless otherwise noted, refers to a global and annual average value. Radiative forcing is not to be confused with cloud radiative forcing, a similar terminology for describing an unrelated measure of the impact of clouds on the irradiance at the top of the atmosphere (http://www.ipcc.ch/glossary/index.htm).

2. In October 2007, the annual assembly of ICAO decided against requiring airlines to limit GHG emissions through participation in the European ETS. Instead, ICAO created a panel to develop a comprehensive climate change plan for the international aviation industry. The 42 countries in the European group of ICAO strongly disagreed with the decision by making a “reservation” against the resolution, indicating that these member states may choose to ignore the resolution on legal grounds that it compromises the EU's capacity to achieve its international GHG emission obligations under the Kyoto Protocol (Environment News Service, 2007).

3. Annex I Parties include the industrialised countries that were members of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 1992, plus countries with economies in transition (the EIT Parties), including the Russian Federation, the Baltic States, and several Central and Eastern European States. Non-Annex I Parties are mostly developing countries (http://unfccc.int/parties_and_observers/items/2704.php).

4. CO₂-equivalent emission is the amount of CO₂ emission that would cause the same time-integrated radiative forcing, over a given time horizon, as an emitted amount of a longlived GHG or a mixture of GHGs. The equivalent CO₂ emission is obtained by multiplying the emission of a GHG by its Global Warming Potential (GWP) for the given time horizon. For a mix of GHGs, it is obtained by summing the equivalent CO₂ emissions of each gas (http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm).

5. BAA is the company that controls seven major airports in the UK, including London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, and Scotland's Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.