It is better not to go to conferences

Several times a year, researchers from all over the world travel long distances to share their latest discoveries and make contacts at conferences. Mr Sebastian Jäckle, from the Department of Political Science of the University of Friborg, advocates a more conscious approach to these research trips. Political scientist examined CO emissions related to travel₂ the last six conferences of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). In addition to calculating CO emissions related to travel₂ Jäckle is also studying ways to reduce the emissions of conference participants. The study was published in the journal European political science.

According to Jäckle's calculations, the average CO₂ a visitor's balance at the conference ranges from 0.5 to 1.5 tons of CO₂ equivalents per three-day ECPR meeting. In comparison, each German emits about 11 tons of CO₂ equivalents per year; according to the current report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it is likely that every human being in the world will emit only 2.5 tons of CO₂ equivalents per year in 2030, which means that the 1.5 degree climate protection goal is still achievable.

In order to determine the total conference emissions, Jäckle took into account the distances traveled by the participants and the CO₂ emissions per kilometer for air, bus and rail transport. Traveling by plane is by far the worst option, while there is not much difference in CO₂ emissions between bus and train. Jäckle's data also show that a significant proportion of the problems are attributable to a small number of conference subjects traveling very long distances: 7% of the participants at the 2018 conference in Hamburg, Germany, caused more than half of total CO₂ shows.

Jäckle nonetheless shows in his work that the potential for savings is significant. By choosing central conference sites with good rail links and connecting participants by video transmission, especially for those from remote areas, the CO₂ the footprint of the lectures could be significantly reduced. "If researchers accepted bus or train travel times that were slightly longer than air travel, 85% of conference programs could be saved," said Jäckle. "Such savings are possible, however, only if the professional associations hosting the conferences and the individual researchers are aware of the problem and actively strive to make the conference as climate neutral as possible."

The political scientist has set a good example. In September 2019, he cycled to the ECPR conference in Wroclaw, Poland, in the most climate-neutral way.