CO2 emissions from checked baggage exceed those of 156 countries
Table of Contents
1：Global CO2 Emissions from Checked Baggage
2：CO2 emission reduction effect without checked baggage
1：Global CO2 Emissions from Checked Baggage
We have previously analyzed the reduction in CO2 emissions by not carrying checked baggage on airplanes to Japan. This time, we will analyze CO2 emissions from checked baggage in the global airline industry.
According to “Project Drawdown,” CO2 emissions from the global aviation industry accounted for about 2.6% of global emissions in 2018. According to the World Bank, global CO2 emissions in 2018 were 34.29 billion tons (34.34 billion tons in 2019), which means that CO2 emissions from the aviation industry were 890 million tons in 2018. Note that according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), CO2 emissions from the aviation industry in 2019 were 910 million tons.
According to IATA, the global air passenger transport distance (paid passenger kilometers) in 2019 was 8.68 trillion kilometers. Therefore, if all airplanes carried 20 kg of checked baggage by each passenger, 14.51 million tons of CO2 emissions would be from checked baggage. This is 0.3% of the global CO2 emissions of 34.34 billion tons in 2019. It is also 0.23% of global greenhouse gas emissions of 46.29 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in 2019.
The CO2 emissions from checked baggage (20 kg) are based on the data provided by ECTA (European Chemical Transport Association) in their “Guidelines for Measuring and Managing CO2 Emission from Freight Transport Operations 2011” of ECTA (The European Clean Trucking Alliance). The CO2 emissions intensity per ton-kilometer of cargo transported by airplanes used in the calculation is 0.602 kgCO2/tkm.
2：CO2 emission reduction effect without checked baggage
You may think that 0.3% of global CO2 emissions are small, but 104.51 million tons of CO2 emissions in more than 156 countries, including 96.29 million tons in the Czech Republic and 93.01 million tons in Belgium. You can see how significant the reduction of checked baggage is.
Annual CO2 emissions (million tonnes、2019)
World 34,344 100.0% High income 12,126 35.3% OECD members 11,611 33.8% China 10,707 31.2% United States 4,818 14.0% India 2,456 7.2% Russian Federation 1,704 5.0% Japan 1,082 3.1% Germany 657 1.9% Global aviation industry 914.0 2.7% Worldwide checked baggage (20 kg) 104.5 0.30% Czechia 96.3 0.28% Belgium 93.0 0.27% Kuwait 92.7 0.27% Qatar 92.0 0.27% Chile 91.4 0.27% Bangladesh 90.7 0.26% Colombia 81.0 0.24% Oman 76.0 0.22% Romania 73.9 0.22% Turkmenistan 72.9 0.21% Morocco 71.5 0.21% Austria 64.8 0.19% Israel 62.7 0.18% Greece 60.0 0.17% Belarus 57.7 0.17% Libya 56.8 0.17% Peru 56.8 0.17% Korea, Dem. People's Rep. 56.0 0.16% Singapore 47.4 0.14% Hungary 46.4 0.14% Serbia 46.0 0.13% Portugal 44.6 0.13% Finland 40.7 0.12% Ecuador 39.3 0.11% Bulgaria 39.1 0.11% Caribbean small states 37.9 0.11% Switzerland 37.4 0.11% Myanmar 36.7 0.11% Norway 36.0 0.10% Ireland 35.8 0.10% Azerbaijan 35.5 0.10% Sweden 35.0 0.10% New Zealand 34.0 0.10% Bahrain 33.3 0.10% Slovak Republic 31.1 0.09% Tunisia 29.9 0.09% Denmark 29.7 0.09% Lebanon 28.0 0.08% Dominican Republic 27.2 0.08% Cuba 25.9 0.08% Syrian Arab Republic 25.7 0.07% Angola 25.2 0.07% Jordan 24.6 0.07% Sri Lanka 23.8 0.07% Mongolia 23.1 0.07% Bolivia 22.3 0.07% Kenya 22.3 0.06% Bosnia and Herzegovina 21.1 0.06% Sudan 20.6 0.06% Ghana 20.0 0.06% Guatemala 19.3 0.06% Lao PDR 18.7 0.05% Ethiopia 18.4 0.05% Trinidad and Tobago 17.2 0.05% Croatia 16.5 0.05% Cambodia 16.2 0.05% Slovenia 13.6 0.04% Nepal 13.4 0.04% Panama 13.3 0.04% Tanzania 12.4 0.04% Zimbabwe 11.8 0.03% Lithuania 11.7 0.03% Yemen, Rep. 11.1 0.03% Cote d'Ivoire 10.8 0.03% Senegal 10.6 0.03% Honduras 10.2 0.03% Estonia 10.2 0.03% Georgia 10.1 0.03% Kyrgyz Republic 10.1 0.03% Luxembourg 9.5 0.03% Cameroon 9.4 0.03% Tajikistan 9.4 0.03% Moldova 8.9 0.03% Jamaica 8.4 0.02% North Macedonia 8.3 0.02% Costa Rica 8.2 0.02% Paraguay 8.2 0.02% El Salvador 7.8 0.02% Papua New Guinea 7.6 0.02% Latvia 7.6 0.02% Mozambique 7.5 0.02% Benin 7.3 0.02% Congo, Rep. 7.3 0.02% Botswana 7.3 0.02% Cyprus 7.2 0.02% Brunei Darussalam 7.0 0.02% Zambia 6.8 0.02% Uruguay 6.5 0.02% Armenia 6.2 0.02%
Source: World Bank, International Air Transport Association (IATA), ECTA, our calculations
Note: Countries with the highest CO2 emissions and countries with lower CO2 emissions from checked baggage are selected.
We analyzed that the reduction in CO2 emissions per year (average of 1.8 trips) from one traveler without 20 kg of luggage traveling to Japan was 137 kg ( “Comparison of 87 CO2 reduction projects“).
145.51 million tonnes of CO2 emissions were from checked baggage worldwide. So dividing this by the 4.543 billion annual number of passengers worldwide, translates into 23 kg of CO2 emissions per person each way. The round-trip CO2 emissions would be 46 kg, and the reduction in CO2 emissions per year per traveler (for one trip per year) by not carrying 20 kg of baggage on board the aircraft would be the 26th largest effect (per global population) of the measures listed in the “Project Drawdown.”
Annual CO2 emissions reduction per capita (kg)
SOLUTION World population OECD poluration High income population 1 Reduced Food Waste 377.2 2,152.9 2,377.3 2 Plant-Rich Diets 333.8 1,905.5 2,104.1 3 Family Planning and Education 293.7 1,676.1 1,850.8 4 Refrigerant Management 243.6 1,390.3 1,535.2 5 Tropical Forest Restoration 232.1 1,324.6 1,462.6 6 Onshore Wind Turbines 200.1 1,142.1 1,261.2 7 Alternative Refrigerants 182.1 1,039.5 1,147.8 8 Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaics 174.0 993.3 1,096.8 9 Clean Cooking 133.7 763.4 842.9 10 Distributed Solar Photovoltaics 113.6 648.3 715.9 11 Silvopasture 113.3 646.6 714.0 12 Methane Leak Management 110.1 628.4 693.9 13 Peatland Protection and Rewetting 108.3 617.9 682.3 14 Tree Plantations (on Degraded Land) 93.9 536.2 592.0 15 Temperate Forest Restoration 82.8 472.4 521.7 16 Concentrated Solar Power 76.7 437.9 483.5 17 Perennial Staple Crops 69.6 397.5 438.9 18 Insulation 65.6 374.1 413.1 19 Regenerative Annual Cropping 64.4 367.8 406.2 20 Tree Intercropping 64.1 365.6 403.7 21 LED Lighting 61.6 351.5 388.2 22 Managed Grazing 58.5 333.8 368.5 23 Multistrata Agroforestry 56.5 322.6 356.2 24 Conservation Agriculture 54.6 311.6 344.1 25 Abandoned Farmland Restoration 53.2 303.6 335.2 Reduced 20kg luggage 46.0 26 Recycling 44.2 252.0 278.3 27 Offshore Wind Turbines 43.6 248.6 274.5 28 Improved Rice Production 42.0 239.6 264.6 29 Building Automation Systems 40.7 232.3 256.5 30 Public Transit 40.1 229.2 253.0 31 Efficient Trucks 39.0 222.6 245.8 32 Carpooling 38.6 220.4 243.4 33 High-Performance Glass 37.6 214.6 236.9 34 Indigenous Peoples’ Forest Tenure 37.0 211.4 233.4 35 Bamboo Production 32.8 187.3 206.8 36 Alternative Cement 32.8 187.3 206.8 37 Electric Cars 32.6 186.3 205.8 38 Smart Thermostats 29.5 168.1 185.6 39 Efficient Ocean Shipping 28.6 163.5 180.5 40 Waste to Energy 26.7 152.5 168.4 41 District Heating 26.3 150.3 166.0 42 Geothermal Power 26.2 149.6 165.2 43 Methane Digesters 25.7 146.4 161.7 44 Forest Protection 23.7 135.0 149.1 45 Efficient Aviation 22.5 128.7 142.1 46 Biogas for Cooking 19.8 113.1 124.9 47 Improved Cattle Feed 18.8 107.5 118.7 48 Recycled Metals 18.4 104.8 115.8 49 High-Efficiency Heat Pumps 17.2 98.3 108.5 50 Perennial Biomass Production 17.0 97.3 107.4 51 Seafloor Protection 16.2 92.4 102.1 52 Reduced Plastics 16.0 91.5 101.0 53 Solar Hot Water 14.5 83.0 91.6 54 Grassland Protection 14.3 81.5 90.0 55 Improved Manure Management 14.2 81.3 89.7 56 Nuclear Power 13.5 77.1 85.2 57 System of Rice Intensification 12.4 70.5 77.9 58 Walkable Cities 12.1 68.8 76.0 59 Nutrient Management 11.8 67.4 74.4 60 Bicycle Infrastructure 11.6 66.4 73.3 61 Telepresence 11.3 64.2 70.9 62 Biomass Power 11.2 63.7 70.4 63 Macroalgae Protection and Restoration 11.1 63.5 70.1 64 Seaweed Farming 10.7 60.8 67.2 65 Recycled Paper 9.7 55.5 61.2 66 Electric Trains 8.1 46.5 51.3 Reduced 20kg luggage 46.0 46.0 67 Small Hydropower 7.0 40.1 44.3 68 Hybrid Cars 6.9 39.2 43.2 69 Electric Bicycles 5.9 33.8 37.3 70 Biochar Production 5.8 33.1 36.5 71 Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders 5.8 33.1 36.5 72 Bioplastics 5.7 32.4 35.7 73 Ocean Power 5.4 30.9 34.1 74 High-Speed Rail 5.4 30.7 33.8 75 Coastal Wetland Protection 5.1 29.2 32.2 76 Farm Irrigation Efficiency 4.8 27.5 30.4 77 Composting 4.8 27.5 30.4 78 Improved Fisheries 4.3 24.6 27.1 79 Low-Flow Fixtures 4.0 22.6 25.0 80 Coastal Wetland Restoration 3.2 18.5 20.4 81 Water Distribution Efficiency 2.6 14.8 16.4 82 Green and Cool Roofs 2.3 12.9 14.2 83 Recycled Plastics 2.2 12.6 14.0 84 Improved Aquaculture 2.1 12.2 13.4 85 Dynamic Glass 1.4 8.3 9.1 86 Micro Wind Turbines 0.4 2.2 2.4
Source: Project Drawdown, Japan Tourism Agency, International Air Transport Association (IATA), ECTA, our calculations.
Note: Calculated according to Scenario 1 of Project Drawdown.
81% of global travelers and 73% of Japanese travelers say that sustainable travel is important to them. Travelers who recognize the importance of sustainable travel should consider not bringing checked baggage. Without checked baggage is the best sustainable travel.
If you don’t bring checked baggage and rent what you need locally, you can have an “easy trip,” as there is no need to prepare and carry baggage or to wash and clean up after you return home. This “easy travel” will make increasing the number of trips for people such as the elderly, disabled people, and families traveling with children. This “easy travel” will also bridge the “Travel Divide.” Please consider using our travel rental service.