Travel's Climate Baggage

Reason for Hope

Recently, heads of state from different countries in Africa gathered for the continent’s first official climate summit.

Africa says its ready to lead on clean energy initiatives, but that wealthy nations need to follow through on their financial commitments including $100 billion per year for climate finance.

Some of the biggest African economies did not attend, including Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.

Source

At Africa’s First Climate Summit, a Clear Call to the World: Invest in Us - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

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Main Topic

Legislative tools to cut travel's emissions

Carbon fee and dividend

• Canada has one
• Puts a fee on fossil fuels
• Gives proceeds to consumers to deal with rising cost of goods
• Most consumers come out ahead

Frequent flyer levy

• An increasing fee vs. flat tax avoids punishing lower income travelers
• Roughly 2% of airline customers are voluntarily paying for carbon offsets

Impact of lost tourism income for Maui

• Tourism accounts for about 40% of economy
• State economic officials estimate that the island is seeing about 4,250 fewer visitors each day than normal, representing a loss of $9 million a day

‍Sources

How carbon pricing works - Canada.ca

There Needs to Be a Climate Tax for Frequent Fliers | Time

Tourists Were Told to Avoid Maui. Many Workers Want Them Back. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)‍

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