Does tourism increase or decrease carbon emissions? A systematic review

Ya-Yen Sun, Stefan Gossling and Wanru Zhou

Annals of Tourism Research, 2022, vol. 97, issue C

Abstract: Whether tourism increases national carbon emissions has important implications for national development agendas. This study reviews the causality, direction, and elasticity as analysed in 81 tourism-extended Environmental Kuznets Curve studies published between 2013 and 2021. Findings indicate a low consensus on the tourism-emission nexus with contradictory results being reported across regions, income levels, and the sector's economic importance. Results highlight the need to critically reconsider tourism‑carbon interrelationships and the methods used in empirical studies. A conceptual framework including relevant parameters connecting tourism and national carbon emissions is presented. This provides the basis for an advanced understanding of the mechanisms that will determine tourism's capacity for macro-level decarbonization.

Keywords: Tourism; Carbon emissions; Decarbonisation; Environmental Kuznets curve; Net-zero emission; Systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:97:y:2022:i:c:s0160738322001530

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2022.103502

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