In the pursuit of achieving the objectives outlined in the Climate Accord, reducing travel becomes an indispensable factor. To meet the 2020 goal, every Dutch citizen is allotted a carbon budget of 1073 kilograms of CO2. Now, envision your vacation year within this carbon constraint – what changes are required?

Why 1073 kilograms of CO2?

De Volkskrant asked Eke Eijgelaar, a researcher in Sustainable Tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences, to calculate a responsible vacation CO2 budget. With this, people can still enjoy their vacations, potentially even by flying, while contributing to a reduction in CO2 emissions. Eijgelaar’s calculations are based on the Climate Agreement, which aims for the Netherlands to reduce its CO2 emissions by 49 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. In 1990, the average carbon footprint of a Dutch vacationer was 1200 kilograms of CO2 (distributed over 2.6 vacations).

To achieve a 49 percent reduction by 2030 and reach a target of 612 kilograms per person annually, a 5.5 percent decrease in emissions is required each year. Therefore, the target emissions for 2020 are 1073 kilograms and for 2021, 1014 kilograms per person. Eijgelaar says that with this budget, people can still have enjoyable vacations, like a week of skiing or two weeks driving to Italy, for example. Alternatively, they could choose not to go on vacation for two years or only camp in the Netherlands and still make that long-haul trip to Indonesia. While a substantial flight tax would have a more significant impact, until that is implemented, individuals can make use of a personal quota.

Nice, those kilograms of CO2, but how does my emissions compare?

A dilemma for every climate scientist: CO2 emissions don’t mean much to the average Dutch person. So, for comparison:

• Taking daily showers leads to about 500 kilograms of CO2 per household annually.
• An average household ‘spends’ around 1000 kilograms of CO2 per year on clothing.
• Eating meat every day costs approximately 1600 kilograms of CO2 per year.
• The average energy consumption of a Dutch household results in about 4000 kilograms of CO2 emissions.

Does that mean I can never take a long-haul trip again?

When you fly intercontinentally, you immediately consume a large portion of your CO2 budget. Should you bid farewell to that dream trip to Japan? Not necessarily, as you can offset a long-haul trip by being more conservative in the following years.

You can also experience other cultures without getting on a plane. You can search for books on this website that take place all around the world, often in places you wouldn’t even visit as a tourist. Or try our European quest, where you visit special places throughout Europe via Google Streetview.

How did you come up with these emission values?

Does that mean I can never take a long-haul trip again?

When you fly intercontinentally, you immediately consume a large portion of your CO2 budget. Should you bid farewell to that dream trip to Japan? Not necessarily, as you can offset a long-haul trip by being more conservative in the following years.

You can also experience other cultures without getting on a plane. You can search for books on this website that take place all around the world, often in places you wouldn’t even visit as a tourist. Or try our European quest, where you visit special places throughout Europe via Google Streetview.

How did you come up with these emission values?

• For city trips, two nights in a hotel are included. No local car rental or polluting activities such as golfing, diving, or adventure sports.
• When traveling by car to a city, we assumed the use of a medium-sized gasoline or diesel car (without rooftop box, bikes, or trailer hitch).
• For the skiing holiday and cycling vacation, we used the same car but with a rooftop box for skiing equipment or bikes on the trailer hitch.
• The three-week trip to Australia includes three weeks of camper rental and two polluting activities. It also includes travel between Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
• The week in New York works similarly to the city trip, but with six nights of accommodation.
• The Vietnam round-trip includes internal bus travel, hostel accommodation, and two polluting activities. The journey goes from Hanoi to Hue to Ho Chi Minh City and back.