BUSINESS NEWS


Low-carbon sources provided just 6% of the travel sector’s energy requirements in 2019, according to an environmental report (inset) by the WTTC and STGC


Travel’s impact ‘needs continued measurement’


Eco report warns ‘business as usual risks breaching tipping points’. By Ian Taylor


The first detailed assessment of travel’s global environmental footprint in a report last week by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Saudi-based Sustainable Tourism Global Centre (STGC) marks a significant step. The Environmental Impact


of Global Tourism report notes: “Meaningful change will only happen with the right measurement.” But it comes with a warning,


noting “the current climate and biodiversity crises” mean: “Continuing business as usual risks breaching


56 2 NOVEMBER 2023


environmental tipping points . . . [when] the sector is more dependent than most on the natural world.” The key data point – that travel’s


greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 8.1% of the world total in 2019 – was announced a year ago. But the report presents whole new areas of measurement for the first time, calculating the sector accounted for 10.6% of global energy consumption, 0.9% of water consumption and 5%-8% of material extraction in 2019. While the assessment provides good news – the sector’s emissions


increased annually at 2.5% between 2010 and 2019 while travel GDP rose at 4.3% per year – emissions still rose 25% in the period and those from international transport grew 5.9% per year. In Europe, travel accounted for 10.9% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, an increase of two percentage points on 2010. Energy use by the sector rose 24%


worldwide in the period, with fossil fuels remaining the dominant energy


Continued on page 54 travelweekly.co.uk


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