Air travellers to New Zealand ‘cost’ 8 million tonnes of carbon annually

4.1.2008   (New Zealand Herald)

A study by two Otago University researchers finds greenhouse gas emissions generated
by the 2.4 million visitors’ air travel to New Zealand per year were far greater
than commonly quoted and are roughly the same as the emissions from all the country’s
coal, gas and oil-fired power generation.

New Zealand’s heavy dependence on international mass-tourism may be at risk as
affluent northern hemisphere travellers increasingly look at the “carbon footprint”
caused by flying.

A study by two Otago University researchers finds greenhouse gas emissions generated
by visitors’ air travel to New Zealand were far greater than commonly quoted.

“Our calculations show that in 2005, the CO2-equivalent emissions from the 2.4
million international visitors’ return air flights was nearly 7.9 million tonnes
– roughly the same as the emissions from all the country’s coal, gas and oil-fired
power generation,” researchers Inga Smith and Craig Rodger said today.

The emissions were equivalent to 10% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions
for the year, which are covered by the Kyoto Protocol.

“We were surprised by this percentage as it is much higher than the widely quoted
world average, even considering New Zealand’s geographical isolation,” said Dr
Rodger.

“The sheer size of the emissions and difficulties in offsetting them have far-reaching
implications for both the tourism industry and efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.”

Prime Minister Helen Clark 11 months ago set a goal for New Zealand to be carbon
neutral and to define New Zealand as environmentally sustainable.   International
tourism produced 9% of the nation’s GDP when supporting industries were included
and was the country’s number one export earner.

The researchers evaluated the feasibility of potential measures to offset the
emissions to make the visitors’ travel carbon-neutral – and found most were not
practical.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10485166