CET Low-Carbon Travel Policy

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “the continuing growth in passenger […] activity could outweigh all mitigation measures unless transport emissions can be strongly decoupled from GDP growth.” For knowledge organisations like universities, air travel constitutes a significant part of its climate footprint, and “critical, accountable and transparent actions” are therefore dearly needed to address these emissions.

Travelling has been deeply ingrained in academic life since the beginning of the Western university model. Mobility is central to how research is organised, partnerships are formed, and how individual academic careers unfold. At CET we recognise our share of the global greenhouse gas emissions and that academic researchers are amongst the highest emitters through their research practices. In Norway, transportation accounts for 34% of climate gas emissions with the highest climate impacts coming from aviation and cars. Recent research also shows that Norway is top 3 in the world for domestic air travel.

While the University of Bergen has set an ambitious goal to reduce emissions from travel by 89% between 2018 and 2030 (and 50% by 2025), a strategy for how these targets are going to be reached and enforced, particularly at the department and/or centre level, remains largely absent.

*The UiB strategy was updated in November 2024: "The overall goal is to reduce emissions from scope 1 and 2 by 89% by 2030, and sub-goals have been adopted within scope 3. The University Board has adopted the following specific sub-goals:

• Emissions from energy use will be reduced by 30% by 2025
• Emissions from travel will be halved
• UiB will work systematically to reduce emissions from the purchase of goods and services"

The first CET low-carbon travel policy was implemented in 2018 and has successfully created awareness and mobilised alternatives for low-emission travel among its researchers and staff.

Since 2018, CET has been active in ongoing research on travel related emissions. Research from the Transfight project, where CET researchers participated, showed that there is support among researchers for measures for a more sustainable way of conducting research, however there is resistance for mandatory measures.

In this updated CET Low Carbon Travel Policy, we explore new tools and guidelines for planning and prioritising carbon emissions to support sustainable research activities.

The purpose of the CET Travel Policy is to reduce climate gas emissions from CET activities following UiB's climate targets and inspire similar efforts outside CET. In pursuing this goal, we hope to mobilise:

Awareness of climate gas emission targets and own emissions among researchers;

Alternatives for climate-friendly ways of organising, conducting and meriting research;

Assessment tools for supporting researchers in planning and reducing their emissions.

Photo:

CET

The CET Low Carbon Travel committee is made up of representatives from CET including a permanent staff researcher, a temporary researcher (PhD or PostDoc) and the centre administration. They will work on the following activities together with the CET secretariat:

Lobby. CET will use our positions in committees and boards at UiB to lobby for, and propose solutions for, low carbon research practices at UiB.

Fund alternatives. The committee will continue to find ways to fund and subsidise low- carbon travels.

Engagement. The committee will create engagement around low-carbon travel through outreach such as seminars and op-eds.

Photo:

CET

Measures and assessment tools

This policy offers several measures and tools to assist researchers in minimising their climatic footprint. They are designed to be simple to understand and self-guided.

Photo:

CET

Researchers are encouraged to comply with the following code of conduct:

Monitor and reduce. I will keep track and be aware of the carbon emissions tied to my professional activities and set personal objectives to reduce them in line with or larger than UiB’s carbon emissions commitments.

Consider alternatives. I will consider the use of video conferencing and streaming to reduce travel. I will encourage meeting organisers to provide streaming options for meetings. When I need to travel, I will use transportation options with the lowest possible emissions.

Plan, prioritise and combine. I will consider meetings attended based on the least amount of carbon emissions. I will plan my travels well in advance to be able to prioritise between travels and combine several activities in the same location when possible. I will justify my travel considering the priority, location and purpose of the event, and the alternative options available. All projects led by CET will have a Carbon Management Plan. We encourage all project partners to consider creating a Carbon Management Plan.

Reduce the footprint of events. For activities that I organise, I will choose the location by giving high priority to a low carbon footprint of travel of the participants, and I will encourage, incorporate and technically support online speakers and webcasts to reduce unnecessary travel.

Support a low-carbon research culture. I will work with my peers, organisation/department and funders to value alternative metrics of success and encourage the promotion of low-carbon research as a realisable alternative to a high-carbon research career. I will resist my own FoMo (Fear of Missing Out) by not attending everything and working towards sensitising others to the need for the research community to walk the talk on climate change.

Photo:

CET

Meetings with funders, affiliates or research project groups are integral to academic life. However, while meeting in person provides a wide range of opportunities and benefits, events hosted by researchers and academic communities also come with emissions, both due to travelling and serving food. To assess and increase awareness of this aspect of academic life, a checklist for the organisers of meetings is included here.

Planning

• Need
  • Assess the need for having a meeting;
  • Consider alternatives (virtual meetings etc.).
• Time and place
  • Optimise location to minimise total travel;
  • Combine with other activities when possible.
• Participants
  • Assess the number of participants needed to be present in person.

Implementation

• Travels
  • Encourage/support climate-friendly travels (both long-distance and local);
  • Encourage affiliates to track their emissions from travel using an available CO emissions tracker.
• Food
  • Assess the need for serving food;
  • Avoid food waste by estimating amount and prevent no-shows (e.g. through pre-registration with fees);
  • Order vegetarian or plant-based food only;
  • Choose local and climate-friendly providers;
  • Avoid single-use items for serving.
• Visibility & multiplying effect
  • Spread low-carbon ideas in networks and for future meetings.

Photo:

CET

The CET Carbon Management Plan is developed for research projects. The aim is to better plan and prioritise emissions throughout a project period. 

Download the template here.