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By recommending the flight emissions calculator of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is losing credibility, according to a group of NGOs, including EED-Tourism Watch.
In an open letter to UNWTO, the organisations have voiced their concern about UNWTO’s decision to ignore the so-called radiative forcing index (RFI), a numerical multiplier, when calculating the emissions caused by aircraft at high altitudes. As Sabine Minninger reports, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently calculated the RFI in aviation with a range of 1.9 - 4.7, taking into the account the fact that the impact of aircraft emissions on climate change is not due to CO2 emissions alone. In response to the NGO letter, UNWTO clarified that they had “decided to support the ICAO Carbon Calculator, while looking forward to scientific advances that will allow a better measurement of the impacts of aviation on climate change” – which led the NGOs to the conclusion that by disregarding the current state of scientific knowledge, the UNWTO is instigating “green washing”.