Flying to conferences won't solve climate change – Kiwi researcher
A large international conference can produce the emissions of an entire city in a week, according to new research. A University of Otago researcher is calling for a dramatic overhaul of academic events, in light of the climate crisis. The worlds largest earth and space conference, the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, released 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere last year or what the city of Edinburgh emits in seven days, the research analysis published in the journal Nature found. Sustainable tourism professor Dr James Higham said this is an eye-watering if not entirely surprising figure. However, he and international researchers calculated this could be slashed by 90 per cent. First up, conferences should be held every second year, which has the potential to slash emissions in half. Event organisers could encourage virtual attendance, by offering large discounts to academics who chose this option. Finally, venues should be chosen to minimise transport emissions. READ MORE: * Coronavirus could teach us how to mitigate climate change * Climate Explained: How much does flying contribute to climate change? * I'm a travel writer, but I'm not going to fly any more For example, holding the Fall Meeting in a centralised location based on attendees homes rather than the actual location of San Francisco, the researchers selected Chicago would have cut emissions by 12 per cent. Thats nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The study modelled the effect of taking all three steps the carbon footprint would be one-tenth that of the 2019 Fall Meeting. Pre-Covid, people would travel quite regularly and routinely to very distant conferences for a few days, perhaps every year or perhaps more than once a year, Higham said. We need to, not necessarily stop completely, but we need to be much more conscious of the carbon footprint of our activities and support more local and regional conferences. As an alternative, event organisers could set up an international conference with regional hubs, meaning academics could network in-person, while still reducing emissions. Even if only five per cent of attendees attended virtually, the carbon footprint of the Fall Meeting with delegations in Chicago, Paris and Tokyo would be nearly 80 per cent smaller. Although the timing of events would be more complex, participants would be less likely to suffer jet lag, the researchers suggested. European conference organisers should also choose a venue with good rail connections, Higham said. The study found replacing short-haul flights with train journeys would cut a Viennese conferences emissions by 10 per cent. According to the modelling, three-quarters of all emissions from the 2019 Fall Meeting in San Francisco were generated by roughly one-third of attendees those who had to fly more than 8000 kilometres, including New Zealand participants. The elephant in the sky is the super-long-haul traveller, Higham said. Thats something we will have to tackle and that will require virtual attendance. Covid-19 travel restrictions have forced many people to virtually attend a conference, he said. This is going to have to become much more routine. Before the pandemic, most conference organisers paid little attention to how the location of their event would impact travel and emissions, Higham said. Though there has been a growing groundswell within the academic community of people who are actually very concerned. The principles mean large international conferences may need to shun New Zealand as a location. Were so far away from the delegates who would want to travel here to attend, Higham said. On top of the climate benefits, cheaper registration fees for virtual attendees would also allow more researchers beyond the best-funded academics to attend, Higham said. We also need to protect the interests of early-career colleagues, who do need to build their profile, as more senior academics have in the past, by networking.