How can low-carbon tourism be "worthy of its name"? Carbon emission calculation standards and emission reduction paths are the key to the transformation of scenic spots
If you are a frequent visitor to the Forbidden City, you will definitely find that the Forbidden City has become a bit different in recent years: the number of garbage cans on the road has been reduced, and they have been replaced by classified garbage cans with elegant colors and clear information. There are many types of souvenirs in the cultural and creative store. The materials are fallen leaves from the Forbidden City and recycled disposable plastic bottles.
These unconscious changes all imply that in this 600-year-old Palace Museum that interweaves tradition and modernity, an exploration of "zero waste" and low carbon is quietly unfolding.
Since my country proposed the "double carbon" goal in 2020, more and more people have realized the relationship between climate change and tourism.paradeThe close relationship between industries. Low-carbon tourism and low-carbon lifestyle have become a fashion and trend in society.
In practice, a number of cultural and natural scenic spots that are at the forefront, such as the Palace Museum and Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, have continued to promote low-carbon tourism in the past few years, and have made many efforts to reduce waste, save energy and reduce emissions. A useful attempt, but this road is not an overnight move.
Recently, supported by the Energy Foundation and co-authored by Carbonstop (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., the "Carbon Status Research and Carbon Reduction Path Guidelines for China's Scenic Spots"(hereinafter referred to as the "Guide") paid in-depth attention to the current situation of carbon emissions in China's tourism industry and the progress of scenic spots 'participation in climate actions. It provides methodological guidance for the difficulty of scenic spots in reducing emissions-how to clearly calculate carbon emissions, and summarizes the general carbon reduction paths and action suggestions that scenic spots can take when responding to climate change.
"Tourism can play an important role in energy structure transformation, demand-side emission reduction, ecological carbon sink improvement and public value education, and scenic spots are suitable for serving as a starting point for achieving the sustainable development of tourism and related industries and play an important role. However, there is currently a lack of research and action guidelines in this regard in China." Jiang Bing, director of strategic communication projects at the Energy Foundation, told The Paper News (www.thepaper.cn).
"We have discovered the highlights and pain points of carbon emission reduction by investigating the carbon emission status of China's scenic spots. We hope to explore a universal carbon emission reduction path for scenic spots and provide assistance to the world in reaching the temperature control goals proposed in the Paris Agreement. Contribution from scenic spots." Yan Luhui, founder and CEO of Carbonstop, told The Paper News.
Carbon reduction in scenic spots is in the ascendant
Tourism and related industries are closely related to climate change.
Jiang Bing said that on the one hand, tourism is one of the sources of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. On the other hand, tourism is extremely sensitive to climate change, and the natural resources of scenic spots and the normal business of scenic spots are susceptible to direct impacts from various climates.
As a comprehensive industry with strong cross-cutting nature, tourism includes multiple elements such as catering, accommodation, transportation, leisure, shopping, and entertainment. Each link is directly linked to the public's consumption behavior. Therefore, the energy consumption of tourism is highly driving and its impact on climate change cannot be ignored. A report from the World Tourism Council shows that tourism as a whole accounts for 8%-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while domestic tourism accounts for approximately 6%-8% of the country's carbon emissions. In terms of "travel" alone-global carbon emissions related to tourism and transportation will reach 1.998 billion tons by 2030, accounting for 23% of the total carbon emissions in the transportation sector and 5.3% of all anthropogenic carbon emissions.
At the same time, tourism can promote the economy and consumption, and drive the upstream and downstream industrial chains with huge potential. It is one of the most important economic sectors, providing employment opportunities for one-tenth of the world's population and protecting the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people.
Data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism shows that the number of domestic tourists in the first half of 2024 was 2.66 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%; domestic tourism revenue was 2.59 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.5%. Cultural tourism is becoming an important force in promoting economic recovery and development in various places. A survey by the World Tourism Council (WTTC) shows that China is expected to become the world's largest tourism market by 2032.
The "Guide" sorted out and found that before the country proposed the "double carbon" goal, many scenic spots already had certain understanding and practice of low-carbon tourism, and combined their own geographical, cultural and ecological characteristics to take a series of measures to promote the development of low-carbon tourism.
In January 2020, the Palace Museum and Vanke Charity Foundation jointly launched the "Forbidden City Zero Abandonment" project, which is a useful attempt for the cultural, tourism and cultural industry to explore solutions for sustainable development and climate change. The project focuses on the two major directions of "zero-waste office" and "zero-waste tourism". Based on the principles of reduction, resource utilization and harmlessness, the project adopts scientific and sophisticated waste management methods to reasonably manage waste in the Palace Museum and advocate More audiences and the public pay attention to and respond to climate change actions.
Wu Xiao, founder of Beijing Nuolu Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., who participated in the implementation of the project, told The Paper News that the United Nations has statistics that the annual carbon emissions of global waste disposal are basically equivalent to those of the global aviation industry. Therefore, waste management is an important part of responding to the "double carbon" goal and effectively responding to climate change. "Moreover, waste management is an opportunity that is easily accessible to the public and highly feasible. Responding to climate response actions through this path will easily allow existing experience to find a foothold and then transform it into concrete actions." he said.
After scientific research, based on audience behaviorXiAs usual, after the relocation, the number of garbage cans in the open area of the Palace Museum has been reduced from 310 groups to 110 groups. The newly established garbage cans are divided into four categories and seven sub-categories in detail. They are not only to protect the heritage site's style, but also to facilitate the resource recycling. The center connects professional garbage recycling channels one by one to improve the efficiency of garbage classification and the aesthetics of the courtyard.
Today, nearly five years have passed, and the "Forbidden City Zero Abandonment" project has achieved considerable results. In terms of effective waste management, from the redistribution and reduction of garbage cans in the hospital, classified collection, and classified transportation to the establishment of resource recycling centers, the Palace Museum has gradually formed a set of practical and effective waste classification management systems and rigorous implementation process that adapt to local conditions. So far, 3000 Forbidden City staff, 40,000 tour guides, 21 million visitors and 158 million people from the public have joined the project.
Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, which is famous across the country for its focus on ecological protection, is actively exploring energy conservation and carbon reduction based on its own characteristics.
"In addition to reducing resource consumption and recycling, and reducing energy consumption caused by resource consumption from the source, our new animal exhibition area also uses glass roofs to reduce lighting using lighting. With the support of the Huatai Charity Foundation, 1100 square meters of solar photovoltaic panels have been built in the park to basically meet the electricity needs of the Wildlife Rescue Center. Bai Yali, deputy director of Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, told The Paper News.
Bai Yali said that in addition to not using fuel equipment, the park also uses electricity and other emission reduction measures such as canteens, tourist dining areas, viewing cars, and heating in animal exhibition areas, it also adopts "emission reduction measures" based on local conditions "and based on the characteristics of the zoo.
"We know that animal manure management will produce greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitrous oxide. For zoos, manure treatment is a headache. We have innovatively adopted the 'intelligent integrated horizontal closed fermentation tank' to convert animal manure and garden waste into organic fertilizers. These fertilizers are used in animal feed bases to achieve ecological self-circulation and also solve the impact of animal manure on the environment." Bai Yali said.
Solve the "no standards" for carbon reduction in scenic spots
Although some scenic spots have made some initial progress in building low-carbon tourism, they are facing considerable difficulties in further promoting carbon reduction.
Many experts said that some scenic spots have a very good awareness of green and low-carbon, but the primary difficulty encountered in further promoting low-carbon and carbon reduction is to measure the carbon emissions of the scenic spots according to a unified standard. "At present, I haven't found a scenic spot in China that can do it. This is a very challenging thing." A member involved in the Forbidden City's "zero abandonment" project told The Paper News.
The carbon emission accounting of scenic spots is unclear, which is a pain point that most scenic spots identify in the Guide and hope to solve.
The "Guide" sorted out and pointed out that currently my country's tourism industryparadeThe calculation of industrial emissions has the characteristics of inconsistent standards and incomparable results. Relevant carbon emission standards and promotion mechanisms also need to be strengthened. There are relatively few carbon emissions research in the scenic area dimension, and there is a lack of discussion and research on the quantification of carbon emissions and low-carbon transformation of scenic spots.
In this regard, the "Guide" proposes a set of universal, easy-to-understand and implementable guidelines for carbon emission calculation in scenic spots. First, clearly determine the accounting boundary, that is, determine the scope and boundaries covered by carbon emission calculations. Second, all emission sources and carbon sinks are indeed identified, including direct and indirect emissions. Next, it is necessary to obtain activity data related to the scenic spot, including data on energy consumption, resource utilization, etc. Then, appropriate calculation methods and formulas are used to match the obtained data with the corresponding emission factors for carbon emission calculation. Finally, a carbon emission report is prepared based on the calculation results to present the carbon emission situation in a clear form.
The "Guide" points out that carbon emission meters in scenic spots are the basis for the development of low-carbon tourism. Only by clearly understanding the main sources of carbon emissions can we identify subsequent emission reduction space and formulate targeted emission reduction plans and targets. However, in practice, this is not easy.
Zhang Mintao, general manager of the Jiangsu branch of Beijing Zhongchuang Carbon Investment Technology Co., Ltd., told The Paper News that many challenges were encountered in the process of calculating carbon data for multiple scenic spots.
For example, within the physical boundary of a tourist attraction, it will include the supporting infrastructure of the tourist attraction, such as hotels, catering and other enterprises. The management attributes of these enterprises will not belong to the scenic area management committee. "There will be some statistics on the energy consumption of scenic spots, but they are not specific to the facility level. There are almost no statistics from the perspective of carbon emissions. In this way, it will be difficult to completely understand the carbon resources of the scenic spot, and it will be even more difficult to further propose targeted carbon reduction paths." Zhang Mintao said.
It is foreseeable that promoting unified accounting of carbon emission data will be the only way and top priority for low-carbon tourism in the future. Zhang Mintao believes that by establishing a carbon emission data monitoring and reporting system, regularly monitoring and reporting the carbon emissions of scenic spots, and improving information transparency, scenic spots can play an important role in promoting low-carbon tourism in the future.
In addition, the "Guide" also makes recommendations to various stakeholders: for example, the government and industry associations will provide preferential policies such as tax cuts, tax rebates or financial incentives to enterprises that actively practice low-carbon operations; while for enterprises that fail to follow the principles of low-carbon operations, environmental resource taxes such as emission taxes and carbon emission taxes will be levied. Scenic area managers and operators can carry out carbon inventory work to assess the carbon emissions of the scenic area and lay a foundation for subsequent formulation of effective emission reduction strategies.
Carbon reduction goals and potential paths
In addition to the difficulty of accounting for clear carbon emission data, the "Guide" also points out that the industry currently lacks tourism under the top-level design of the "double carbon" goal.paradeThe overall transformation plan for the industry is relatively simple in terms of the specific path of breaking down and implementing emission reduction targets. How to propose emission reduction goals and plans that suit their own characteristics for different scenic spots is also particularly important.
After sorting out the "Guide", it was found that under the guidance of the "double carbon" policy, although many scenic spots are setting their own emission reduction targets for 2030, improving energy efficiency, saving environmental protection and waste management seem to be the most common emission reduction methods. However, the carbon reduction path in scenic spots is relatively single. How can scenic spots of different natures tailor their own emission reduction paths? This is also the confusion of the scenic area.
Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, which has just passed its 70th birthday, is also exploring future development. Bai Yali told The Paper News that the particularity of the zoo scenic area lies in considering various factors such as the zoo's basic operation, animal exhibition area, and tourist consumption space. Some original building temperature control and other supporting facilities are costly to transform into energy conservation and emission reduction. It is often difficult to have both needs when taking into account multiple needs such as nature, environmental protection, and comfort.
However, in the new plan, the exhibition area and buildings will fully consider energy conservation and carbon reduction, cooperate with universities and scientific research institutions, introduce international advanced technology and equipment, and apply new energy-saving control systems and design concepts to carry out environmental control and water body control of indoor greenhouse systems.
In 2024, the zero-carbon zoo project will be launched in the park to comprehensively promote zero waste and carbon reduction work during operation. In addition, the zoo also strives to build an ESG exchange and sharing platform between the field of nature protection and enterprises, and actively holds Nature Life Festival to share foreword practices and research in the fields of nature protection and environmental protection. This is also the effort of the scenic area to promote public awareness of low-carbon.
The Guide also lists carbon reduction cases in different scenic spots: for example, the Slender West Lake Scenic Area in Yangzhou City is committed to building a fully electrified carbon-neutral ecological scenic spot. The main highlights include: creating a "zero-carbon" tourist route, renovating all-electric kitchens to reduce carbon emissions, and introducing advanced photovoltaic equipment such as rooftop photovoltaic power stations, photovoltaic street lights, photovoltaic umbrellas, smart photovoltaic seats and photovoltaic smart garbage cans.
In the Huangshan Scenic Area, the scenic area plans to create low-carbon tourism in various aspects such as transportation (you need to change buses at the foot of the mountain and entering the mountain), tourism (encouraging tourists to travel up the mountain and live at the foot of the mountain), and housing (exploring the construction of smart buildings, ultra-high flexible power distribution systems, dual-mode power supply systems, etc.), food (promoting oil-to-electricity projects), and recycling of construction waste.
The "Guide" also points out that the low-carbon development of China's scenic spots can learn from the world's advanced concepts and successful practices such as sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, and benevolent tourism, cooperate and learn from each other in terms of technology, products and business models, and improve functions. Find a balance between artistic expression and environmental protection to create a low-carbon scenic spot with unique Chinese characteristics. Take Denmark's Naturkraft Park as an example, the world's first sustainability-conscious theme park, encouraging visitors to use sports, games and inspirational learning.XiActivities and intuitive understanding of the interaction between people and nature provide solutions for shaping the future of sustainable tourism.
In addition, the new train city developed by Heidelberg, Germany, using abandoned freight stations is close to zero carbon emissions in operation. As one of the world's largest passive housing complexes, its ultra-low energy consumption and excellent quality of life have become a new symbol of Heidelberg's city image.
"In the future, it is entirely possible for China's scenic spots to launch more activities directly related to low-carbon reduction, such as organizing seminars on low-carbon themes, carrying out carbon footprint calculation projects, and establishing low-carbon demonstration areas, which will become scenic spots. A new exploration direction for low-carbon tourism. Integrating these measures, scenic spots can not only reduce their own environmental impact, but also have a positive demonstration effect on tourists and society, and promote the development of the entire society in a low-carbon and sustainable direction." Zhang Mintao said.
