Brussels says tourism causes pollution

Tourism is an activity which causes concern because of its implications for the environment, especially because it helps contribute to an increase in pollution linked to passenger transport, a report by the European Environment Agency warned. And the report, entitled Environmental Signals, takes the Balearics as an example to explain its conclusions, because the islands are visited by nearly 11 million tourists a year while the stable population is barely 800'000. Calvia is also mentioned specifically because it has started to apply development plans which are compatible with the surroundings and which include the demolition of old amenities set up to handle the arrival of mass tourism. The conclusions of the report underline the fact that tourism represents half the energy expenditure in the transport sector which is in turn the fastest growth source of carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions, according to most scientists, are the biggest contributor to global warming. The Agency report claims that energy efficiency in passenger transport has improved very little in recent years and no significant improvement has been noted in connection with cargo transport. The report, published in Brussels yesterday, says that transport is the activity which increased energy consumption most since 1985 and now accounts for more than 30 per cent of energy consumption in the European Union. The report said that an estimated 70 per cent of air traffic is now related to tourism.