Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. Flying is particularly damaging to the environment because of the emissions from the combustion of aviation fuel and the dispersion of soot and water vapour that occur at high altitudes. These emissions have a greater environmental impact than emissions at ground level.
UAntwerp attracts students and staff from around the world and our academics travel for international conferences and meetings, as well as to conduct research. International flights are therefore an important cornerstone of the university’s business model.
Unfortunately, these flights take up a significant share of UAntwerp’s total emissions. According to the zero measurement report, international travel by air accounts for 4075.7 tonnes of CO2-eq, corresponding to 10% of the total carbon footprint. Therefore, it is of great importance to reduce flights and address emissions from aviation.
Milestones reached
- A travel policy was developed that incorporates a travel flowchart for all international travel of staff and students: avoid travel; reduce travel demands to and from the university; travel without flying; fly when there are no alternatives; and offset these emissions. To further discourage unnecessary air travel, a restriction has been imposed on all air travel for destinations that can be reached by train within 8 hours, provided that no extra overnight stay must be booked.
- UAntwerp installed a university-wide mechanism to offset CO2-eq emissions from international travel. To do so, the university collaborates with Greentripper. In 2020, 1221.56 tonnes of CO2-eq were sequestrated. This equals 2.92% of the university’s total emissions. To achieve this sequestration, a sustainable agriculture and land management initiative in Kenya was financially supported. In 2021, 717.42 tonnes of CO2-eq were sequestrated, corresponding to 1.71% of total emissions. To do, so the ‘Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project’ in Kenya was selected.
- At several locations on campus, investments were made in videoconferencing technology, which reduces the need to travel.
Goals
- Maintain the online and successful hybrid meeting culture to prevent extra travel.
- Eliminate 30% of flight kilometres by 2030. This reduces CO2-eq emissions by 1,222.71 tonnes of CO2-eq.
Actions
- Increase the CO2-eq contribution substantially to discourage air travel. The budget that becomes available can be used for climate-related actions at the university (e.g. a subsidy for train, bus and boat travel).
- Restrict travel for one-on-one appointments;
- Restrict international travel for meetings shorter than 4h;
- Discourage booking business and first class seats for flights. Passengers in a higher class seat have a remarkably higher carbon footprint than passengers in an economy seat.
Indicators
- Airplane travel by students in tonnes of CO2-eq
- Airplane travel by staff in tonnes of CO2-eq
- Airplane travel per faculty
- Ratio of train travel to air travel (international and national)
- Tonnes of CO2-eq sequestrated
- Amount of money invested in compensation
Challenges
- The effectiveness of carbon offsets is highly controversial and needs to be strictly monitored. Strictly controlled reforestation offers best guarantees to effectively offset emissions. Even then, compensation must be used as a last resort. The first goal must be to reduce kerosene consumption.
- Academics are currently being assessed not only on their scientific achievements (number of articles, patents, etc.) and teaching duties, but also on their international mobility. Someone who has participated in international conferences, has a higher chance of receiving funding and of advancing in an academic career. However, this checkbox of international mobility interferes with the goal of reducing air travel, because it forces researchers to go to conferences or on short internships ‘for their academic career’, even if the added value is limited. If this checkbox remains in place, academics from universities with the strictest travel policies will have a disadvantage compared to colleagues at institutions that do not have air travel limits. To gain greater support for phasing out air travel, it is essential that international (or more correctly, intercontinental) mobility is no longer considered a hallmark.