Climate change: Tourism responsible for 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, study finds

Tourism is responsible for a twelfth of world greenhouse gas emissions, and a vacation boom is complicating a global drive to slow climate change, scientists said on Monday.

Emissions from tourism, mostly by domestic travellers, were highest in the United States, China, Germany and India, according to a review of 160 nations led by the University of Sydney and published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Tourism, including flights, hotels, food and even the production of souvenirs, emitted the equivalent of 4.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2013, the most recent data available, or 8 per cent of all man-made greenhouse gases, up from 3.9 billion in 2009, it said.

That was far above many previous estimates, using narrower definitions, that tourism accounts for just 2.5 to 3.0 per cent of world emissions, it said.

And on current trends, the trillion-dollar tourism industry will emit 6.5 billion tonnes of carbon emissions by 2025, the review said, making it one of the fastest-growing source of the planet-warming gases that governments are trying to cut.

Flights were the biggest single contributor, according to the study by scientists in Australia, Taiwan and Indonesia.

If I flew from Melbourne to the UK return, I would pay at least an additional $205 to offset my emissions.

"We recommend flying less and staying Earth-bound where possible, e.g. use public transport," co-author Arunima Malik of the University of Sydney said.

Lead author Manfred Lenzen said plane tickets would have to be far more expensive to reflect the harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions from burning jet fuel.