Keeping the Carbon Budget Alive

Why CO₂ Capture Must Be on Your Regenerative Tourism Roadmap?

The global carbon budget is the atmosphere’s credit limit — the total CO₂ we can still emit and still have a decent chance of keeping warming below 1.5 °c. UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2024 warns that unless global emissions fall sharply before 2030, we will enter overshoot territory, where temperatures rise past 1.5 °C and can only be lowered again with large-scale carbon removal. The bigger the overshoot, the greater our reliance on CO₂ removal technologies and the higher the risk of irreversible damage to ice sheets, oceans, and coastal communities.

Actions by volunteers and tourists can make a big difference.

For regenerative-tourism entrepreneurs, this translates into three simultaneous tasks:

1. Slash your operational emissions through electrification, efficiency and on-site renewables.

2. Support (or develop) long-term net-negative projects that physically pull carbon out of the sky.

3. Pressure supply-chain partners (cement, steel, fuels) to adopt carbon capture and storage (CCS) to neutralise the stubborn industrial emissions you can’t avoid.

Wellness + Regeneration Retreat Curriculum

Buy Now

Why CCS? The industries that underpin tourism infrastructure — steel for bridges, cement for hotels, fuels for aircraft — are notoriously hard to decarbonise. CCS is already operating at cement plants in Norway and low-carbon-hydrogen projects worldwide; within a decade, it will become a prerequisite for major international chains committed to ultra-low travel footprints. Getting involved now, either as a demanding buyer or as a local CCS partner, places you ahead of the regulatory curve.

There are multiple technology routes:

• Point-source capture strips CO₂ from factory stacks and stores it deep underground.

• Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) burns sustainably sourced biomass and locks away the biogenic CO₂, delivering net-negative emissions.

• Direct-air capture (DAC) siphons CO₂ directly from ambient air for permanent storage or mineralisation.

All three require shared transport infrastructure, robust monitoring rules and, crucially, business demand that drives investment.

Five Action Steps for Forward-Thinking Destinations

Action	Why it matters	Practical starter moves
1. Audit & target	You can’t manage what you don’t measure. A cradle-to-gate carbon audit reveals the true hotspots in energy, materials and guest travel.	Use open tools like The Greenhouse Gas Protocol + Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative. Set an absolute reduction target aligned with Science Based Targets (e.g., –50 % by 2035).
2. Build a “no-regrets” renewables stack	Cutting combustion emissions is cheaper than removing CO₂ later.	Install rooftop PV or agrovoltaics, electrify kitchens and laundry, and add smart-grid monitoring. Publish annual kWh and CO₂ savings.
3. Write low-carbon clauses into every contract	Market demand accelerates CCS deployment.	Specify “cement or steel with verified CCS” for new builds from 2030 onwards; include penalties for non-compliance and bonuses for early adoption.
4. Allocate a carbon-positive budget line	High-quality CO₂ removal (BECCS, DAC) is expensive, but it buys permanence and storytelling power.	Redirect 1–2 % of annual revenue to certified net-negative projects in your region; integrate the story into guest experiences and investor reports.
5. Plug into emerging CO₂ hubs	Shared pipelines and shipping routes slash CCS costs. Early movers can secure preferential storage contracts.	Map future CCS corridors (Caribbean offshore saline aquifers, Mexican Gulf, North Sea). Engage local authorities and energy firms to position your destination as a pilot node.

Curso: Energía y Cultura Sostenible

undefined

Book Now

The Take-Home Message (post journey)

Avoiding overshoot is still the cheapest, safest option. But every credible climate plan now includes a portfolio: rapid emissions cuts, demand-side shifts and robust CO₂ capture for the 30 % of emissions that refuse to disappear.

At Living Impact, we turn global climate trends into fundable, real-world actions for tourism ventures across Latin America and the Spanish-speaking world. Book a discovery call and learn how your project can lead the next wave of carbon-positive destinations.