Surging global tourism emissions are driven by just 20 countries – major new study
- Written by James Higham, Professor of Tourism, Griffith University
Surging global tourism emissions are driven almost entirely by 20 countries, and efforts to rein in the trend aren’t working.
That is the main finding of our new research[1], published in Nature Communications today. It represents the most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of tourism emissions yet conducted.
The study draws together multiple datasets, including those published directly by 175 governments over 11 years (2009-2020). It uses the United Nations-endorsed[2] “measurement of sustainable tourism” framework and draws on tourism expenditure and emissions intensity data from national accounts.
The findings reveal serious challenges ahead, given the wider context. The UN Environment Programme reports a 42% reduction[3] in current global emissions overall is needed by 2030 (and 57% by 2035). If not, the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees will be lost.
But global tourism emissions have been growing at double the rate of the global economy. Our study reveals that between 2009 and 2019, emissions increased by 40%, from 3.7 gigatonnes (7.3% of global emissions) in 2009 to 5.2 gigatonnes (8.8% of global emissions) in 2019.
While global tourism emissions fell dramatically in 2020-2021 due to COVID-19, the rebound to pre-pandemic levels[4] has been rapid.
tourismemissions.org, CC BY-ND[8][9] 20 countries dominate emissions Our research revealed alarming inequalities in emissions growth between countries. The United States, China and India accounted for 60% of the growth in tourism emissions between 2009 and 2019. By 2019, these three countries alone were responsible for 39% of total global tourism emissions. Three-quarters of total global tourism emissions are produced by just 20 countries[10], with the remaining 25% shared between 155. Remarkably, there is now a hundred-fold difference in per-capta tourism footprints between countries which travel most and those which travel least. Of the top 20, the US (as a foreign destination, as well as its citizens travelling) had the largest tourism carbon footprint in 2019 – nearly 1 gigatonne. It was responsible for 19% of the total global tourism carbon footprint, growing at an annual rate of 3.2%. In 2019, the US tourism carbon footprint was equivalent to 3 tonnes per resident, ranking 12th globally among countries with the highest per-capita tourism emissions. As a destination, the United Kingdom ranked 7th globally, at 128 megatonnes (2.5% of the total). In 2019, UK residents produced 2.8 tonnes of emissions per person, ranked 15th globally. Australia’s tourism carbon footprint ranked 14th globally (82 megatonnes). Its resident per-capita tourism carbon footprint in 2019 was 3.4 tonnes (8th globally). This underscores the high emissions being driven by long-haul air travel for inbound and outbound international trips. In 2019, New Zealand’s per-capita tourism carbon footprint was 3.1 tonnes per resident (10th globally). Like Australia, dependence on long-haul international travel is a problem that cannot be ignored. 
