“Without urgent interventions in the global tourism industry, we anticipate annual increases in carbon emissions of 3-4%, which means they will double every 20 years. The main factors driving emissions growth are slow technological improvements and rapid growth in demand,” Dr. Sun said.

The study involved researchers from the University of Queensland, Griffith University, the University of Sydney and Linnaeus University (Sweden) and counted international and domestic travel in 175 countries.

It found tourism’s global carbon footprint increased from 3.7 megatonnes (Mt) to 5.2 Mt between 2009 and 2019. Most net emissions were reported in aviation, utilities and private vehicle use for travel.

The growth rate of carbon emissions from tourism was 3.5% per year over the decade, while overall emissions increased by 1.5% per year, from 50.9 Mt to 59.1 Mt.

The United States, China and India dominated the rankings and accounted for 60% of the total increase in tourism emissions over the period of the study.

Australia ranked in the top 20 countries that together accounted for three-quarters of the total carbon footprint of the tourism industry in 2019.

“The biggest carbon challenge in tourism is air travel. Reducing long-haul flights is one of the recommendations we’ve proposed to help the industry lower its emissions, alongside targeted measures such as carbon taxes, carbon budgets and obligations to use alternative fuels. “At the local level, tourism operators could opt for renewable electricity for accommodation, food and recreation, and switch to electric vehicles for transport,” said Dr. Sun

The Queensland-based researcher presented her research findings at the tourism panel at the ONU Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, November 11-22, 2024.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications on December 10, 2024.