The development of the carbon footprint of tourism is double that of the global economy, increasing by 3.5% annually between 2009 and 2019, when emissions have had an annual development of 1.5%. It has to be said that tourism in itself generates more environmental impact than other sectors – for example, tourism emits four times more CO2 emissions than the services sector.

This is the results of a study by the scientific journal Nature Communications, published on December 10. Researchers recall that, in order to achieve the goal of limiting global warming set by the Paris Convention to +1.5 °C, emissions from the sector should be reduced by more than 10% per year by 2050. Research shows that the trend is in the opposite direction.

Tourists generate 8.8% of greenhouse gas emissions and, once again, it is clear that everyone is experiencing the climate emergency, most of the most vulnerable countries in the Global South: the 20 most polluting countries in tourism emit three-quarters of these emissions. Suppose that 19% of the total tourist footprint is for the American tourist and 15% for the Chinese tourist.

Need to change: use of the aircraft

According to the researchers, tourist travel should not be typified as essential because not all tourists are polluted to the same extent and therefore, "it is not fair and not fair". They are clear about the change they have to make: taking less of the plane. The problem lies in the large number of tourists travelling by plane.

The study was carried out taking into account the tourism costs of 175 localities, as well as the economic results of tourism in 62 localities and the tourist consumption data of 113 localities, all refined thanks to the Gloria database. With a few days by the end of the year, it can be said that 20 billion tourists will be counted in 2024.