Reducing CO2 emissions from domestic travel: exploring the social and health impacts.

The importance and meaning of social and recreational travel for a diverse group of Auckland residents is explored in this article. Study participants identified a range of social and health benefits, including maintaining social connections with family and friends, opportunities to participate in physical activity, and reducing stress. However, many of these trips are by car. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of private car ownership internationally, low-density urban development, and a poor public transport infrastructure. Social and recreational trips make up a sizeable proportion of domestic travel and are contributing to New Zealand's increasing rate of CO2 emissions. There is an obvious need to address the negative ecological impacts of human activity. Our findings suggest that alongside strategies to reduce CO2 emissions, it also is important to introduce measures to maintain the benefits from social and recreational travel. Suggestions are made for further areas of research.