Territorializing International Travel Emissions: Geography and Magnitude of the Hidden Climate Footprint of Brussels

Abstract

In the present article we investigate the geography and magnitude of the climate footprint of long-distance travel with Brussels, Belgium, as a destination. The internationally networked position of this city goes hand in hand with a strong dependence on international mobility, which largely materializes in impressive volumes of long-distance travel and associated consumption of important amounts of fossil fuel. Despite a surge in concerns about global warming, the climate footprint of most international travel, notably air travel, is not included in the official national and regional climate inventories, or in other words, it is not territorialized. The official climate footprint of the Brussels-Capital Region attained 3.7 Mton CO<sub>2</sub>eq per year (in 2017). Based on our exploratory calculations, however, the total estimated climate footprint of all Brussels-bound international travel equalled an additional 2.7 Mton CO<sub>2</sub>eq. In terms of geographical distribution, over 70% of international travellers to Brussels come from Europe, while these represent only 15% of the climate footprint of all international travel to Brussels. We conclude that the practice of not allocating emissions caused by international travel to territorial units has kept the magnitude and complexity of this problem largely under the radar and contributes to the lack of societal support for curbing growth of international aviation.

Towards a public policy of cities and human settlements in the 21st century

“…City tourism is one of the fastestgrowing tourism segments and its climate impact, though typically overlooked, can be substantial. Locally adverse impacts are not distributed equitably 145 . In 'international' cities like Brussels and Barcelona, the estimated climate footprint of inbound air travel for city tourism is as high or even higher than the official climate footprint of local residents for all purposes 145,146 .…”

“…Locally adverse impacts are not distributed equitably 145 . In 'international' cities like Brussels and Barcelona, the estimated climate footprint of inbound air travel for city tourism is as high or even higher than the official climate footprint of local residents for all purposes 145,146 . This could be substantially higher in developing country cities.…”