An Input-Output Approach of CO2 Emissions in Tourism Sector in Post-Communist Romania

Abstract

Greenhouse gas emissions GHG have a significant impact on the environment. Their dramatic increase is being led by changes in land use patterns, deforestation, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities UNWTO, 2003, inducing one of the main challenges humankind is facing nowadays, i.e. climate change. The concentration of GHG in the atmosphere has been growing at an unprecedented rate and magnitude. They have increased since the beginning of the industrial era and accelerated worldwide, particularly since 1945. Global emissions of GHG grew 70% from 1970 to 2004 IPPC, 2008. Countries most contributing to this are the developed nations and, more recently, the BRIC countries, which are going through a rapid economic growth process. Solely, the United States accounts for around one fourth of the world's GHG emissions. This paper will investigate the impact of changes in the final demand for tourism sector on the carbon dioxide CO2 emissions, using the environmental input-output IO approach. The empirical analysis is developed for Romania, using economic and environmental data. The shocks in tourism final demand will reveal the environmental burdens transmitted throughout the economy of an initial percentage change. The second finding of this paper concerns the decrease in CO2 emissions as a result of changes in CO2 intensity of various productive sectors.