UK lawmakers to count environmental cost of mass tourism

(Reuters News, 17 Jul 2019) "When we book a cruise, flights or visit a popular tourist destination, it's easy to forget about the environmental impact our holidays are having".

British lawmakers said on Thursday they would count the environmental cost of mass tourism amid warnings that leisure trips pose an ever greater threat to the planet.

Fast-growing tourism accounts for about 5% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide while floods of visitors are damaging a host of hot spots, said the Environmental Audit Committee, which scrutinises the impact of government policy on the environment.

From queues up Everest to cruisers crowding Venice, 'must-see' landmarks are increasingly imperilled by their very popularity. And that's before the spew of emissions from planes, trains and automobiles is taken into account.

"Now that summer is here, families are looking forward to a well-earned holiday," committee chairwoman Mary Creaghin said in a statement. "But when we book a cruise, flights or visit a popular tourist destination, it's easy to forget about the environmental impact our holidays are having."

A study last year found that a global boom in tourism was complicating the drive to slow climate change, with flights the biggest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Some 1.4 billion people were international tourists in 2018, 6% up on the year before, as cheap flights and easy connections help fuel mass tourism, according to the World Tourism Organization, a United Nations agency.

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Reuters News, 17 Jul 2019: UK lawmakers to count environmental cost of mass tourism