Environment and travel combine?

According to World Travel and Tourism Council, 8 to 10% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are caused by the food sector. – most of them, through travel. It is worth remembering that the longer the route, the more CO2 is emitted.

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According to Global Carbon Budget Report (🇬🇧), humanity has emitted about 36,6 billion tons of CO2 in 2022. In 1950, global CO2 emissions were just 6 billion metric tons, while in 1990 emissions reached 22 billion metric tons.

A round trip to Qatar emits 3 tons of CO2 per passenger

There are 283 of them on the Qatar Airways A350-900

Palmeiras emitted 849 tons of CO2 during the trip alone

It's the same carbon that 5309 trees in the Atlantic forest managed to remove from the air

All this for 0 goals https://t.co/HxQIVF9x7V
— Felippe Hermes (@Felippe_Hermes) February 11, 2021

Does the mode of transport make a difference?

The choice of transport can make a difference in environmental impact, but there are thousands of inaccurate statements, so it is difficult to get the exact data.

“A train journey has a lower environmental impact than a car journey”, states the German Federal Environment Agency.

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The truth is that every means of transport needs to be powered in some way, that is: it needs energy, which is normally generated by fossil sources, such as oil and gas.

If you use your cell phone for one hour a day, after a year, you will have generated 1.250 kilos of CO2, the equivalent of emissions per passenger on a plane trip from London to New York #cell phones #heating pic.twitter.com/OSmFdQ0eO7
— Collabora – Sustainable Journalism (@colaboraprojeto) March 12, 2018

Why are they harmful?

When fuel is burned, as is the case in most cars and planes – which run on kerosene – climate-damaging CO2 is released. This enters the atmosphere and heats it. In other words, yes, the transport sector is one of the main contributors to climate changes caused by man.

“Sustainable travel is not a reality" assures Bente Grimm, head of tourism mobility research at the Northern European Tourism Research Institute (NIT) to DW. (*)

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“The desire to see the world and the interest in behaving in an environmentally friendly way often conflict, and the desire to travel often prevails,” adds Grimm.

According to data from the Association for Holiday and Travel Research, in 2021, 5,1 million trips lasting 5 days or more were made in Germany, as well as 44,8 million short trips.

Kylie Air reportedly took a three-minute flight, which would have only been a 40-minute drive.https://t.co/RscsUTl83v
- BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) July 21, 2022

For longer trips, 34% of tourists chose to fly. In Germany, many people already know that flying produces the most CO2 emissions, but this doesn't always translate into a change in the way they travel.

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UN announces agreement on carbon neutrality for aviation by 2050

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations (UN) agency, announced this Friday (7) an agreement for the sector to achieve carbon emissions neutrality in 2050.

How to be more sustainable?

Given that transport is responsible for a significant part of global CO2 emissions, tourists can rethink their way of traveling and stay longer in one place, instead of taking several shorter trips.

The transport infrastructure must also be rethought, with alternatives that are less harmful to the environment.

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Are you going to travel? Enjoy your vacation without harming the planet