Disparities and flows analysis of global leisure carbon footprints
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Leisure is an important component of human life. Since human activities significantly contribute to global carbon emissions through final consumption, understanding CO₂ emissions embodied in leisure consumption is crucial for effective environmental management. Using a labor-closed environmentally extended input-output model, we assess the global leisure carbon footprint (LCF) for 2019, considering three leisure definitions. Results show that even under the narrow leisure definition, global LCF reaches 8 Gt, accounting for 18 % of global CO₂ emissions. Marked disparities in leisure consumption and LCF exist across countries. Based on countries’ per capita LCF, the top 10 % of the population contribute 30-40 % of total LCF, whereas the bottom half accounts for only 15-25 %. Furthermore, 32 %, 26 %, and 20 % of LCF under narrow, middle, and broad definitions are imported, with about two-thirds supporting leisure consumption in high-income countries. These findings offer a new perspective on carbon emission responsibility allocation across nations.
Authors: Peilin Chen, Arunima Malik, Jiahang Song, Manfred Lenzen, Zihao Chen, Zihao Chen, Mengyu Li, Zhan-Ming Chen, Zhan-Ming Chen
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,270
Funders: University of Sydney, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, China Scholarship Council, National University's Basic Research Foundation of China, Australian Research Council, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China
Awards: Climate Risk Disclosure: Developing Measures for Best Practice , Quantifying emergence and dynamics of foodborne epidemics in Australia, Sustainable and secure future energy pathways for Australia, Assessing climate risk for future food supply, ARC Research Hub for Microrecycling of battery and consumer wastes , G6520479136, G6560746219, G7471565389
OpenAlex ID: W4413102738