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Structural lock-ins in tourism decarbonization and the alternative

Nature Climate Change volume 16, pages 10–13 (2026)Cite this article

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Decarbonization of the tourism sector faces challenges of structural lock-ins. This Comment challenges the conventional narratives of green tourism and emphasizes to practice more transformative eco-friendly solutions rather than to consume less, with ecotourism as a promising alternative to encourage more low-carbon behaviour in daily life.

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Fig. 1: Hotel carbon footprint, energy use and water usage performance at different scales (per room, occupied room or square metre).

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Yi Liu & Xiaojuan Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Sustainable Tourism Smart Assessment Technology, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, Zhuhai, China

    Yi Liu

  3. Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Yu Yang

Authors
  1. Yi Liu
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  2. Yu Yang
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  3. Xiaojuan Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaojuan Li.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Liu, Y., Yang, Y. & Li, X. Structural lock-ins in tourism decarbonization and the alternative. Nat. Clim. Chang. 16, 10–13 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02502-y

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