2023-12-31 02:07:18
Published earlier this month by the Tourism Panel on Climate Change (TPCC), the Tourism and Climate Change Stocktake 2023 report finds that the sector’s growth is outpacing that of the global economy, high-income countries being the source of emissions both as destinations and as the country of origin of travelers.
This text is a translation of an article from CTV News.
“To date, no country, destination and subsector has managed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from tourism,” the report said.
“In 2023, the world witnessed an extraordinary succession of broken climate records, causing widespread and profound impacts on ecosystems and society. This moment demands a proportionate response from the tourism community.
The report notes in particular that the plane is increasingly the preferred means of transport for many travelers, with 47% of international tourists arriving by plane in 2019, compared to 34% in 2000.
The total distance traveled is also on the rise, with an average increase of 3.9% per year between 1995 and 2019, with the annual total of individual trips increasing by 2.8% on average during this period.
See also: Future adaptation: exploring solutions to the consequences of climate change
Tourism’s carbon footprint increased in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said, citing two analyzes from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) that estimated total emissions at 4.1 and 5.4 gigatons in 2019, or between 8 and 11 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions for that year.
One gigatonne, or one trillion kilograms, is equivalent to the weight of “10,000 fully loaded U.S. aircraft carriers,” according to NASA, enough to fill New York’s Central Park with a four-kilometer-long block of ice , 800 meters wide and 341 meters high.
A necessary change in the years to come
According to the report, this trend may not achieve its goal.
“Tourism is not on track to meet the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism’s interim target of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030. “Urgent leadership from the entire sector is needed for tourism emissions to peak and decline substantially by the end of the decade.
The TPCC highlights the importance of integrating climate change and tourism policies worldwide, with a focus on mitigating the impact of travel emissions and creating incentives for more tourism low carbon.
“In five years, the 2028 Tourism and Climate Change Inventory must demonstrate the progress made,” the report concludes. “A strong trend towards reduced emissions, expanded adaptation and improved adaptive capacity, as well as a roadmap for the entire sector towards a just transition to climate-resilient tourism.”
This month’s report is expected to be followed later next year by the 2024 TPCC Scientific Assessment, a detailed technical analysis, the first of its kind since 2007.
“The TPCC brought together over 60 global thought leaders…to provide the tourism sector and relevant policy and non-tourism decision-makers with a clear view of the current state of knowledge relating to climate change and tourism,” can we read on the website of the group of experts.
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