Should Carbon Passports Be Introduced to Limit Travel?

What’s the story?

• In a recent report on the future of sustainable travel, Australian company Intrepid Travel stated that "carbon passports" should be introduced and mandated by 2040 to ensure the tourism industry survives in a climate-conscious world.
• A carbon passport would assign each traveler an annual carbon allowance that must not be surpassed, effectively rationing travel.
• The report said:

“By 2040, it will be unusual to see members of Generation Alpha without a carbon-footprint tracker on their smartphones. Every Uber ride, plane journey, and trip to the supermarket will be logged in their devices, noting their carbon footprint in real time.”

• Darrell Wade, co-founder and chairman of Intrepid Travel, said:

“The direct, catastrophic impact of climate change has for too long been viewed as something distant in the future. But this is no longer an impending event; it’s happening now."

Arguments for carbon passports

• The tourism industry contributes a high portion of greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for the climate crisis — approximately 10%.
• To meet the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels, experts recommend individuals limit their yearly carbon emissions to 2.3 tons, equivalent to a round-trip from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, the average annual carbon footprint is currently considerably higher, with the U.S. at 16 tons per person, Australia at 15 tons, and the UK at 11.7 tons.
• According to Intrepid Travel, a flight from New York to London results in 986 kg of CO2 emissions per passenger, which is more than the average person in 56 countries produces annually.

Arguments against carbon passports

• The UK Parliament considered a similar concept, "personal carbon trading," in 2008, where all adults would receive a tradable carbon allowance for household energy and/or personal travel emissions. 
• The public resisted this idea, arguing that carbon "rations" were an unwarranted attempt to regulate behavior, leaving the concept abandoned.

Do you support carbon passports?

-Laura Woods 

(Image credit: Unsplash)