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Voluntary carbon offsetting: Who does it?

Author

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  • McLennan, Char-lee J.
  • Becken, Susanne
  • Battye, Rod
  • So, Kevin Kam Fung

Abstract

Voluntary carbon offsetting was popularised during the last decade, particularly by airlines, as a tool to ‘neutralise’ emissions associated with travel. Although there is a wide range of carbon offsetting schemes for tourism, the uptake of these programs has been reportedly low. Regardless, little research has explored the visitor segments who voluntarily undertake carbon offsetting. Consequently, this research investigates the prevalence of carbon offsetting amongst international tourists to Australia between 2008 and 2010 and, using cluster analysis, segments the carbon offsetters into three distinct markets. Findings reveal a stable carbon offsetting market, despite a Global Financial Crisis occurring during the reference period. Further, travellers from the United Kingdom/Europe were more likely to carbon offset, while those from Asia were less likely to participate in the schemes. Thus, this could indicate that the social marketing, public discourse and substantial media coverage in the United Kingdom/Europe had enhanced climate change mitigation behaviours.

Suggested Citation

  • McLennan, Char-lee J. & Becken, Susanne & Battye, Rod & So, Kevin Kam Fung, 2014. "Voluntary carbon offsetting: Who does it?," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 194-198.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:45:y:2014:i:c:p:194-198
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.04.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Christoph Kerner & Thomas Brudermann, 2021. "I Believe I Can Fly—Conceptual Foundations for Behavioral Rebound Effects Related to Voluntary Carbon Offsetting of Air Travel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-11, April.
    3. Gordic, Dusan & Nikolic, Jelena & Vukasinovic, Vladimir & Josijevic, Mladen & Aleksic, Aleksandar D., 2023. "Offsetting carbon emissions from household electricity consumption in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    4. Spash, Clive L. & Theine, Hendrik, 2016. "Voluntary Individual Carbon Trading," SRE-Discussion Papers 2016/04, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
      • Clive L. Spash & Hendrik Theine, 2016. "Voluntary Individual Carbon Trading," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2016_04, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    5. Eßer, Jana & Frondel, Manuel & Sommer, Stephan, 2021. "Soziale Normen und der Emissionsausgleich bei Flügen: Evidenz für deutsche Haushalte," RWI Materialien 139, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
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