Sustainable Business Travel
Disseminating research findings and establishing collaborations at international conferences are essential aspects of scientific work. However, as conferences contribute to climate change and pose challenges to a socially sustainable work environment, policies and attitudes toward business travel are changing.
Did you know that…
- One international conference is associated with 44,6 million flying km, equivalent to annual emissions of 9366 European households for a week? See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7646750/
- Transitioning from in-person to virtual conferencing can reduce the carbon footprint by 94% and energy use by 90%? See https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34916499/
- Virtual conferencing improves diversity, equity and inclusion in science and engineering conferences? See: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00823-2
- An increasing number of health and science institutes implement sustainable business travel?
Tips for minimizing environmental impact of air travel for science
- Assess the necessity of travel before committing to any trip.
- Take the train within Europe.
- Book direct instead of stop-over flights to minimize your carbon footprint.
- Combine work trips with vacations to reduce the number of flights.
- Invest in carbon offsets to mitigate flight emissions.
- Leverage remote collaboration tools to reduce the need for travel.
- Advocate for sustainable conference practices within your scientific community.