Swedish Linnaeus University Faculty Member Prof Dr Stefan Gössling said that the annual average amount of carbon emissions per tourist is around 5 tons, and that some activities such as winter tourism are adversely affected by climate change.
Tourism, which constitutes a large sector with various fields such as travel, food and beverage, accommodation, entertainment activities, is also partly responsible for the increase in greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTCC) data, 11 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are due to the tourism activities and this rate is expected to double by 2050. In order to stop this, it is important to make tourism activities sustainable.
Gössling, who works on sustainable tourism and transportation and has many books on the subject, talked about the relationship between tourism and the climate crisis.
Stating that one of the most important stakeholders of tourism is air transportation and that 4 percent of the world population travels beyond the borders of the country in a year, Gössling shared the information that the aviation industry is responsible for 10 percent of the global carbon emissions.
Gössling said that they discussed the use of environmental friendly options such as batteries, biofuels, hydrogen or synthetic fuels in aircraft for sustainable aviation, and said that some of these are not realistic options in the short term due to the shortage of resources and some of them not yet developed to a level that can be used in aircraft.
Gössling underlined that such changes require transformation in many areas from the design of aircraft to the infrastructure of airports, and this will lead to serious costs.
"Aviation sector's effort to reduce emissions is zero"
Mentioning the impact of regulations in the aviation industry on sustainability, Gössling said:
"Civil aviation activities are regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The problem is that the regulations in the aviation sector were essentially included in the Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997. ICAO negotiated a solution for 20 years and in 2016 came up with the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) plan. But this plan collapsed. Because in its simplest form, this concept focuses on balancing, not reducing emissions. You want balancing but the aviation field continues to emit. For balance to occur, your carbon pools have to grow because you're releasing more than you save."
Referring to the aviation industry's goal of achieving the carbon net zero target for 2050, Gössling said, "You need different fuels for this, and we cannot get to that point with CORSIA. At this point, the aviation industry's effort to reduce emissions is zero. Although there are other initiatives on the subject, their impact is minimal."
Noting that not every touristic activity has the same impact on the climate crisis, Gössling said, "Cruise tourism is a very good example in this regard. Cruises are responsible for 1.5 percent of the carbon emissions caused by tourism. Because they consume a lot of energy. Considering that the airline is used to transport these ships, cruise ships create an environmental disaster.
"The annual amount of carbon emissions per tourist is around 5 tons"
Sharing data on the carbon emission of tourists, Gössling said, "The annual amount of carbon emissions per tourist is around 5 tons. We know that this figure, which is caused by food-beverage, travel, accommodation and other consumptions, is very high, we need to reduce it to the current sustainable level of 3 tons."
Emphasizing that jet planes and large yachts used for private purposes also cause serious carbon emissions, Gössling underlined that the world's richest people, known for their luxury holidays, cause carbon emissions of up to 30 thousand tons per person per year.
Every factor in the system is important
Gössling made the following suggestions on how tourism can be sustainable:
“There are many steps, but I think the point where we should start is that we need to understand that every factor in the system is important. Not only airline companies, hotels, restaurants, small or large businesses, everyone has to be a part of the solution. Because at this point, everyone can blame someone else. Consumers say, 'Governments should solve this', governments say, 'This is corporate business', and companies say, 'Consumers are not asking us to be more environmentally friendly'. So nothing changes. In order to make the industry more environmentally friendly, we need policies that will push the big and small players in it. In fact, we usually blame the airlines, but hotels and restaurants, which are small and medium-sized businesses, are responsible for 50 percent of the carbon emissions in the sector. Therefore, we should not lose sight of the importance of sustainability of small units in the tourism sector."
Pointing out that climate change directly affects tourism activities as tourism triggers global warming, Gössling concluded his words as follows:
"The activities in the sector are directly related to the weather conditions. Snow can be given as a very simple example of this situation. We are no longer seeing snow, there are difficulties in winter tourism in the Alps. If it continues like this, you cannot have winter tourism. By the end of this century, we will have lost all coral reefs in the world. Think of the Red Sea without a coral reef. As a result, there will be no touristic activities focused on diving or snorkeling, because the source of this tourism will be destroyed."