https://link.thetimes.co.uk/view/643dae8e52f5b18ea2028d73lpiib.3cp/de810b16
By Ben Spencer – Science Editor, The Sunday Times
Can tourism be a force for good?
Excerpt:
Tourism itself is a major driver of the problem. Globally, the tourism industry generates an estimated five billion tonnes of CO₂ a year. If it continues at this rate, by 2050 holidaymakers will use up 40 per cent of the carbon budget that remains to humanity if we are to limit global warming to 1.5C.
So what is the solution? Imposing levies on flying is taboo but taxing jet fuel – which currently has zero tax, compared with petrol and diesel taxes at about 53 per cent in the UK – would be a start. Some destinations are taking matters into their own hands, and not just because of climate change. Venice, for example, this summer started imposing a €5 entry fee on peak days to “safeguard the city from overtourism”.
Other destinations are taking a more positive approach. Last month Copenhagen started offering tourists perks for being a little bit greener during visits to the Danish capital. By taking part in environmentally friendly activities – such as cycling or rail travel – visitors can get free museum tours and kayak rentals. Spend half an hour picking up litter on the beach, and you can even get a free lunch. Some 24 eco-activities are available in all, and the bosses hope tourists will be nudged into lessons they can continue once they get home.
“We must turn tourism from being an environmental burden into a force for positive change,” Mikkel Aaro-Hansen, chief executive of the tourism organisation Wonderful Copenhagen, told The New York Times. The aim, he said, “is to change how we move around on the destination, what we consume, and how we interact with the locals”.
