1. Carbon Accounting
in the Tourism Sector
Chaired by:
Rachel Dunk Steven Gillespie
Crichton Carbon Centre University of Glasgow

2. Outline/Objective of workshop
 Welcome and introductions
 Scene setting presentations
– Tourism & CO2: The global context
– Targets, standards and methodologies
 Key questions
 Wrap up and Close

3. About ICARB
ICARB: The Initiative for Carbon Accounting
 Sponsored by the Scottish Government
 A group of stakeholders (industry
representatives, politicians, academics, consultant
s, public, private and third sector) working
together to create a set of transparent, consistent
and accurate rules for carbon accounting across
the Scottish economy
 Resource base at www.icarb.org

4. Objectives...
 Form and shape a Tourism Stakeholder Group
 Make the first steps in developing the Tourism
carbon accounting rule book
– Tourism sector sub-categories
– Which scope 3 emission sources?
 Identify next steps/points for future discussion

5. Introductions

6. Tourism & CO2:
the Global picture

7. Tourism & Climate Change
Creates
Tourism Impacts
Affect

8. Tourism Growth
Erxleben and Sallwey (2007)
UNWTO (2011)

9. Global Tourism and Climate Change
 Tourism (including day-trips) is responsible for
4.95% of global CO2 emissions
– Up to 14% if measured as radiative forcing (The warming
caused by CO2 and other GHGs).
 If tourism was a country it would be the 5th
biggest polluter worldwide (similar to Japan).
 Global tourism emissions projected to grow by
152% by 2035.
Sources: Peeters and Dubois (2010); UNWTO-UNEP-WMO (2008)

10. Breakdown of tourism emissions
Other activities
4%
Accommodation
Air transport
21%
40%
Other transport
3%
Car
32%

11. Radiative forcing
Accommodation Other activities
9% 2%
Other transport
2%
Car
15%
Air transport
72%

12. Tourism Mitigation Scenarios
UNWTO-UNEP-WMO (2008)

13. References
 Erxleben, T. and Sallwey, L. (2007) The impact of current developments on
the baggage flow at airports and derived trends in airport logistics.
Elektroniczne czasopismo naukowe z dziedziny logistyki, 3 (1), No. 5.
 Peeters, P. And Dubois, G. (2010) Tourism travel under climate change
mitigation constraints. Journal of Transport Geography, 18 (3),447-457.
 UNWTO (2011) Tourism Highlights 2009 Edition. http://unwto.org
 UNWTO-UNEP-WMO (2008) Climate Change and Tourism: Responding to
Global Challenges. UNWTO, Madrid.

14. Targets, Standards &
Methodologies

15. UK Climate Change Policy
UK Climate 2020 ↓34%
Change Act 2050 ↓80%
Climate Change 2020 ↓42%
(Scotland) Act 2050 ↓80%

16. Sustainable Tourism in Scotland
 Scottish Government has publicly stated its ambition
for Scotland to be Europe’s most sustainable tourism
destination
 Aspiration that all quality assured businesses will have
attained (at a minimum) entry level of the Green
Tourism Business Scheme by 2015
 Incorporation of environmental/sustainability criteria
into Visit Scotland Quality Assurance Scheme
 Concerns from sector on clashes between 4/5* and
sustainability criteria

17. What is a carbon footprint…
“The total set of greenhouse gas
emissions caused directly and
indirectly by an
individual, organisation, event or
product”
Carbon Trust

18. The purpose of C accounting in tourism...
 To enable accurate emissions reporting?
If accurate emissions reporting is required, then we need a
rigorous approach that complies with relevant guidelines &
standards.
&/or
 To provide information for carbon management?
If for internal carbon management a less rigorous approach that
provides management level information and allows identification
of lowest hanging fruit may prove sufficient.

19. The purpose of C accounting in tourism...
 Provides baseline information that enables:
 Reporting of emissions
 Mandatory
 Voluntary
 Comparison to benchmark standards
 e.g. Office energy efficiency
 Correct identification of emission reduction targets
 Savings
 No Cost
 Low Cost
 Level against which future performance is measured
 Quantify emissions abatement achieved
 Project reporting

20. Drivers to reduce carbon emissions
Regulation
Stakeholder New
Pressures Organisation Business
Costs

21. Barriers to carbon emission reduction
Time
Business
Organisation Knowledge
as Usual
Cost

22. International Standards
 The Greenhouse Gas Protocol
– www.ghgprotocol.org
 ISO 14064 Climate Change Standard
– www.iso.org

23. UK Voluntary Reporting
UK Government Recommendation:
 Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas
emissions
In combination with:
 Guidelines to Defra/DECC’s GHG Conversion Factors for
Company Reporting
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/reporting/index.htm

24. 3 to 5 Step Process
Define the boundaries
1
Collect the activity data
2
Calculate emissions & total footprint
3
Independent verification (optional)
4
Public reporting (optional)
5

25. Boundary setting
ORGANISATIONAL OPERATIONAL
Q: What do you own/control? Q: What are you including?
identify ALL emissions
within organisational
Equity Control boundary & then select
Share Approach which to include
Scope 1 & Scope 2 
Financial Operational
This is your consolidation approach
Scope 3 ?

26. Boundary Setting
Within Companies Control
Footprint Assessment
Boundary
Other business Purchased Company Waste disposal
travel electricity vehicles petrol & recycling
Staff Gas Company Water supply &
commuting consumption vehicles diesel treatment

27. The Sources – Scope 1, 2 & 3
Scopes improve transparency & prevent double counting of emissions for GHG programs
The GHG Protocol requires reporting of Scope 1 & Scope 2 as a minimum
Source: GHG Protocol – A Corporate Accounting & Reporting Standard, Revised Edition

28. The Sources – Scope 1, 2 & 3
Scope 1: Direct GHG emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the
company.
• e.g. emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers, furnaces and vehicles (combustion
of biomass is reported separately). Process emissions and fugitive emissions are also Scope 1.
Scope 2: Energy Indirect GHG emissions from purchased electricity, heat steam &
cooling consumed by the company.
Scope 3: Other indirect GHG emissions (optional for the GHG protocol
discretionary in UK Govt guidance)
• arise as a consequence of the activities of the company, but occur from sources not owned or
controlled by the company.
• both the upstream & downstream supply chains
• e.g. extraction, production of purchased materials, transportation of purchased fuels, waste
disposal, employee commuting, business travel, customer travel.
Others: Emissions of other GHGs not included in the Kyoto Protocol (optional
for the GHG Protocol, include if material in UK Govt guidance)
• e.g. CFCs (regulated by the Montreal Protocol), NOx
Source: GHG Protocol – A Corporate Accounting & Reporting Standard, Revised Edition

29. The Sources – Scope 1, 2 & 3
 An approach often taken is to tackle the easiest
emissions to quantify first (Scope 1 & Scope 2) –
developing a more detailed approach at a later date
(e.g. Scope 3 - examining the supply chain).
 HOWEVER – an analysis limited to direct and indirect
energy emissions may account for only a small
fraction of an entities total carbon footprint.
 Developing a carbon management plan based on
limited information could be worse than useless.

30. Which Scope 3 Sources? ISO 14064-1
 The organization may quantify other indirect GHG emissions based
on requirements of the applicable GHG programme, internal
reporting needs or the intended use for the GHG inventory.
 The organization may exclude from quantification direct or indirect
GHG sources or sinks whose contribution to GHG emissions or
removals is not material or whose quantification would not be
technically feasible or cost effective.
 The organization shall explain why certain GHG sources or sinks are
excluded from quantification.
 Materiality: concept that individual or an aggregate of
errors, omissions and misrepresentations could affect the
greenhouse gas assertion and could influence the intended users’
decisions
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31. Which Scope 3 Sources? Defra/DECC
Discretionary - include if significant...
Small Business User Guide specifically notes:
 Water supply/waste water disposal
 Waste disposal/recycling
 Business travel
 Staff commuting
31

32. Which Scope 3 Sources? Carbon Trust
Carbon Trust - Baseline Tool (for SMEs)
pilot – being trialled in 2011/12
 Water
 Waste (general mixed – no breakdown)
 Business Travel
32

33. Which Scope 3 Sources? GTBS
GTBS – Criteria address...
 Water
 Waste
 Travel (Business, Staff, Visitor)
 Purchasing
33

34. What is a tiered methodology
 In the IPCC GPG, there is a hierarchy of
estimation methods – Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3
methods – with Tier 1 being the simplest
(highest uncertainty) and Tier 3 being the most
complex (greater confidence).
 This approach is also evident in Defra/DECC
guidance – which provides basic guidance on
how to estimate emissions from some sources
in absence of complete data sets.
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35. What is a tiered methodology
 Tier 1: simplest - equations and default
parameters provided - e.g. Scotland specific...
 Tier 2: as Tier 1 but higher temporal and spatial
resolution – more disaggregated data – e.g.
Region specific...
 Tier 3: higher order methods – based on high
quality activity data (in combination with
modelling) – e.g. Enterprise specific...
35

36. Key Questions
36

37. Discussion Groups
Lisa Gibson Eva Milroy Alice Hamling
Neil Kitching Kalyan Bhandari Zan Kirk
Hiro Murakami Steve Macfarlane Stephen Miles
Markos Skampalis Vasileios Skampalis Jon Proctor
Robert Smith Chris Wood-Gee Sue Roaf
Song Wang Joung Hun Youm Emily Taylor

38. The Tourism System
Source: Leiper 1990
Operational Context
Departing Tourists
Tourist Tourist
Generating Transition Route Region Destination
Region Region
Returning Tourists
Operational context includes economic, socio-
cultural, political, technological, legal and environmental variables

39. Q1: Tourism Sector Boundaries
1. Which tourism actors
– are core tourism businesses (in the rule book)
– are supporting businesses (data needed from them for
determining footprint of the ‘core’ tourism business)
– should facilitate / support carbon measurement and
reduction in the tourism sector
2. For the core tourism businesses, please arrange
them into what you think are the appropriate
number and type of sub-categories

40. Q2: Tourism & Travel Emissions
1. Which actors are interested in tourism related
transport emissions?
2. Whose responsibility do you think it is to measure
and reduce emissions from tourism related
transport?
3. How would you evaluate visitor travel?
– What data is needed?
– Who should collect it?

41. Q3&4: Which Scope 3s?
1. What do you think are the significant Scope 3
emission sources for the core tourism sub-categories
formulated by your group?