The Moderating Role of ESG Administration on the Relationship between Tourism Activities and Carbon Emissions: A Case Study of Basic Local Governments in South Korea

This study examines the impact of tourism activities (TA) on carbon emissions (CE) in South Korea and investigates how ESG (environmental, social, and governance) administration power moderates these relationships. To explore four research areas—the relationship between TA and CE; variations across three years (2019–2021); the moderating effect of ESG policies; and the influence of control variables—MIMIC models were employed using secondary data from credible national institutions. The main results across the years and ESG groups (high vs. low) are as follows: (1) The positive influence of individual TA on CE ranked as food and beverage > shopping > recreation > accommodation, with no differences across the years or ESG groups. (2) ESG administration alleviated the carbon-emitting effects of TA, with significant moderation in 2019 and 2021, but not in 2020 (particularly, the effect sizes of TA were greater in low ESG groups). (3) Although tourism development stimulates TA more strongly in the high ESG groups, the CE induced by TA is significantly mitigated by ESG administrative support, resulting in smaller effects than those observed in the low groups. (4) The latter part covers diverse discussions on the influence of control variables—such as infection safety, atmospheric pollution, tourism development, income levels, green space, and local population.