Abstract In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that global climate change can still be slowed down if greenhouse gas emissions are rapidly and strongly reduced. We present a detailed regional CO 2 budget for the Alpine tourist region of Davos, Switzerland, including emissions and potential sinks. The aim of the study was (1) to estimate the most important CO 2 sources and sinks, (2) to identify the most efficient reduction measures and (3) to assess the feasibility of different reduction targets. The results show that the emissions due to heating contribute to a proportion of 86.3% to the total budget, which is mainly due to the harsh local climate and the tourism-focused local economy. They also show that the yearly CO 2 emissions per capita in Davos exceed the Swiss average of 6 tonnes by 25%. The augmentation of the carbon pool through the natural environment compares to 10.3% of the total emissions, and further afforestation of the community forest can contribute to an improvement of the total budget by 2.6%. The reduction aim of −15% until 2015 (compared with 2004), as set by the municipality itself, could be easily reached through better building insulation and the use of renewable energy sources. More ambitious aims, such as a 2000 W-society or CO 2 neutrality, however, will not be realised without major drawbacks in living standards.