WTTC Releases Data On The Environmental Impact Of German Travel And Tourism

Emissions of greenhouse gases averaged a yearly 1% decline, making Germany the world leader in absolute emission reductions.

Revolutionary new statistics on the Travel & Tourism industry's impact on Germany's environment has been released by the WTTC and the Sustainable Tourism Global Center, headquartered in Saudi Arabia.

For the first time, thanks to one of the biggest research initiatives of its type, WTTC is able to reliably record and monitor the travel sector's adverse environmental impact.

This new information reveals that Germany is one of the only major nations where the travel and tourism industry has grown while simultaneously cutting its absolute pollutants. In 2019, the industry contributed 10.3% of Germany's total greenhouse gas emissions. During both 2020 and 2021, this fell by more than four percentage points as a result of the pandemic's chilling effect on business.

Growth in Germany's travel and tourism industry was dissociated from increases in its carbon footprint between 2010 and 2019. Moreover, the numbers demonstrate a continuing decline in the sector's emissions intensity.

The German travel and tourism industry produced 0.55 kg of greenhouse gases for every €1 of economic activity in 2010. This number fell by 22% to 0.43 kilogramme per €1 generated in 2019, when Travel & Tourism was at its height, and it will decline further to a low of 0.36 kg per €1 two years later.

The German government and industry leaders have been working to make the market more sustainable, and this dramatic drop shows the success of their efforts.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, commented about the findings:

“Our data shows that Germany is one of the few Travel & Tourism powerhouses which is decreasing its absolute emissions whilst continuing to grow year-on-year.

“The Travel & Tourism sector has decoupled its economic growth from its greenhouse gas emissions and continues to reduce its emissions intensity, but we know there is still work to be done. To reach our goals and ambitions, we must make bigger and bolder steps to reduce our absolute emissions.

“We need government support in accelerating the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels which will have a significant impact on our footprint, as well as bringing in more renewable energy to our national grids.”

Insights on energy consumption and efficiency were also provided by the global tourism body, which reported a yearly growth in energy use of just 0.2% between 2010 and 2019. This indicates how the tourism industry has become more energy efficient even as it has expanded.

The energy intensity of the industry decreased by 18.3 percent between 2019 and 2021, demonstrating the progress achieved by the travel and tourism industry in reducing its carbon footprint.

This in-depth study updates annually to provide the most recent data for all 185 nations across all regions.

The World Travel and Tourism Council collaborated with the Sustainable Tourism Global Center in Saudi Arabia to fund this study. Throughout the previous year, more than 60 projects have been launched as part of the Saudi green Initiative, totalling an investment of over $186 billion U.S. dollars in the sustainable economic growth.

 

Source: hospitalitynet.org