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Travel Industry's Carbon Conundrum
5 Uncomfortable Facts about the Industry's Solutions.
Read time: 5 minutes
Welcome to the weekly AST Briefing.
Behind the glamor of international flights and luxury accommodations lies a pressing concern: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The travel industry faces an inconvenient truth: its environmental impact must be addressed.
As we enter the second year of Asia Sustainable Travel (AST), my co-founder and I have learned a great deal about today's solutions to the GHG emissions challenges in the travel sector.
We acknowledge that GHG emissions and GHG-related topics are a set of complex issues. I hope that by sharing our observations and learnings with you as openly and honestly as we can, we'll be able to accelerate the industry's transition to the new climate economy.
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5 Uncomfortable Truths about Tourism’s Solutions to Carbon Emissions
LEARNING 1: Many GHG offsetting programs are opaque and ineffective, highlighting the need for urgent reform.
Neutralizing and offsetting GHG emissions are necessary but insufficient to mitigate climate change.
This is because there are major discrepancies between what is promised and what is delivered by GHG offsetting companies.
Reuters reported in May 2024 that a United Nations-backed program found GHG offsetting to be mainly ineffective.
Businesses must understand that offsetting alone won't achieve carbon neutrality. Mimi Nguyen, COO at Handprint, emphasized that carbon emissions are projected to rise by 16% by 2030 despite offsetting programs.
The crucial first step is to reduce emissions. Charlie Cotton, founder of ecollective, argues companies should reduce emissions by over 90% before offsetting.
Left: Solar PV Battery on Cempedak Island in Indonesia; Right: 25 percent of Batu Batu’s energy was powered by its on-property solar panels, supplied by Canopy Power.
LEARNING 2: Misleading sustainability claims can lead to widespread skepticism and erosion of consumer confidence.
As a traveler, I was impressed by travel companies showcasing their carbon-neutral certifications and carbon-offsetting initiatives. However, I later realized these were often greenwashing schemes.
Many eco certifications require only self-audits and self-reporting, like Booking.com's ‘sustainable program.’ Recently, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets asked Booking.com to amend their “possibly misleading sustainability claims.”
Delta faced a lawsuit in California for its “false and misleading” claim as the “world’s first carbon-neutral airline” via its carbon-offsetting programs.
KLM lost a court case for vague environmental claims and painting “an overly rosy picture”of its sustainable aviation fuel.
Such cases of greenwashing exploit customers' good intentions, deceiving them into believing they are supporting sustainability.
This false sense of contribution reduces the urgency to seek truly sustainable choices and breeds widespread skepticism about all environmental claims, undermining genuine sustainable efforts and putting truly green companies at a competitive disadvantage.
Left: KLM’s ‘Fly Responsibly’ campaign was the center of a Dutch court case, photo by KLM. Right: Delta’s ‘carbon neutral’ marketing on its in-flight napkins, photo via Live and Let’s Fly.
LEARNING 3: We trade short-term harm for long-term benefits.
The shift to electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions necessitates increased mining of lithium, nickel, and cobalt for batteries.
However, mining is often associated with a myriad of social and environmental issues including biodiversity loss, child labor, community displacement, and toxic waste.
A Climate Rights International report highlights the severe impacts of a nickel mining project on Indonesia's Halmahera Island, including deforestation, community displacement, and water contamination, affecting local lives and livelihoods.
The ethical dilemma of EV and battery-operated technology is a reminder that addressing the climate crisis must go beyond resource replacement, and reduce consumption and adopt a circular economy model.
LEARNING 4: Focusing solely on GHG emissions when addressing climate change is a dangerously narrow approach.
Illustration: Future Earth, inspired by Jan Koneitzko, sustainability advisor and Research Fellow at Circular X,
LEARNING 5: Even as sustainability gains traction in tourism, (sadly) many businesses still view it as a cost.
How do you know if what you're doing is any good?
Weeva is the all-in-one tool for any hotel looking to measure, manage and meet their goals of operating sustainably.
To learn more about Weeva, please check out our interview with Weeva’s Managing Director Julie Cheetham here.
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