A Kaya decomposition analysis of tourism-related CO2 emissions in Italy

Bella, Giovanni

;Massidda, Carla

2019-01-01

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a Kaya decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions in Italy considering tourism among its determinants. Kaya’s identity is a variant of the IPAT identity that has been applied in studies of energy-related carbon emissions. The general IPAT specification corresponds to an identity with Impacts (I) on the left side and Population (P), Affluence (A) and Technology (T) on the right side. The terms on the right-hand side are connected by a multiplicative relationship. Until now, the literature has delivered various specifications of the Kaya’s identity. The simplest considers CO2 emissions as a measure of the impacts and three ratios to decompose the amount of total emissions in its determinants. In detail, the first ratio is normally used to measure the carbon intensity of energy use, the second ratio denotes the energy intensity of economic activity. These two ratios correspond to the Technology (T) factor. The third ratio is income per capita that corresponds to the Affluence (A). Finally, to close the identity, the last term is not a ratio and it is given by Population (P). The present analysis proposes an extended version of the Kaya identity in order to take into account fossil fuel consumption and tourism. The results show that in Italy, among the driving forces behind CO2 emissions, a significant role can be given to tourism.