Tourism Impact Report - Passenger Transport Edition

In our latest quarterly review of corporate sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities, we find that passenger transport companies face significant financial pressure from decarbonisation, with EU emissions trading reforms exposing 82% of airlines to €95/tonne carbon costs by 2030. The report highlights how cruise operators report 14% fuel expenditure increases for low-sulphur compliance, while CDP data reveals 38% of maritime firms lack viable biofuel transition plans, potentially violating IMO 2030 sulphur cap requirements. Forward-thinking companies implementing fleet renewal initiatives represent the growing recognition of both financial materiality and impact materiality considerations across the passenger transport value chain.

This report analyses thousands of sustainability disclosures from 20 leading entities in the industry, including Delta Air Lines, Royal Caribbean Group and Emirates. Published in Q225 as part of a quarterly series, it also includes disclosures from Global South entities like LATAM Airlines Group, Kenya Airways and Singapore Airlines. The global nature of this analysis makes it an ideal source of external evidence for sustainability accounting and disclosure, particularly for organisations implementing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending mandates and conducting thorough materiality assessment processes to comply with emerging ESG regulations and the IMO's 2030 targets.