Air Travel Project
The Air Travel Project of ETH Zurich motivates affiliates to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from work-related air travel in a participatory, evidence-based and solution-oriented approach.
ETH Zurich has defined sustainability as one of its strategic goals and is working to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions until 2030. After greenhouse gas emissions from heating and cooling have already been noticeably reduced, particularly in the building sector, the focus is now shifting to the indirect emissions in the value chains of purchased services and consumed goods. Business travel at ETH Zurich - of which roughly 93% is attributable to air travel - accounts for a significant share (approx. 13%) of these indirect emissions with an estimated 18,000 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions (as of 2017).
The goal of the ETH Air Travel Project, which was launched in 2017, is to implement a concrete reduction path that is compatible with excellence in science and the best possible career opportunities for researchers. ETH Zurich has been recording its greenhouse gas emissions from business travel since 2006 and thus has one of the most comprehensive data sets on air travel emissions in Switzerland and abroad. The latest data on air travel emissions is presented in the external page interactive data dashboard in the Data Stewardship section.
The topic of reducing air travel affects the globalized scientific community as a whole, meaning that exchange with other universities and research institutions in Switzerland and around the world is a key element of the project. The Swiss Network for Sustainable University Business Travel, for example, regularly meets to promote the reduction of emissions from university air travel as a joint effort.
Air Travel in Academia
- external page ALLEA Report 2022: Towards Climate Sustainability of the Academic System in Europe and beyond
- external page FlyingLess: a project by the ifeu institute in Heidelberg, Germany, to develop approaches to reduce flight emissions in academia
- external page Flying Less in Academia: A Resource Guide
- external page Blog: Flying less - Reducing academia's carbon footprint
- external page NoFlyClimateSci
- external page Calling Upon Universities and Professional Associations to Greatly Reduce Flying
- external page "Unter 1000 mach ich's nicht!": Commitment to avoid short-haul business flights by Scientists for Future
- external page "Which universities have a travel policy?": Link collection of the University of Edinburgh and ETH Zurich
- external page Mobility Decision Tree of the University of Basel
- external page "Academic Air Travel Reduction and Offsetting Projects": Google Map by Agnes Kreil with overview of all international universities dealing with the topic of air travel reduction
This website is curated by ETH Sustainability. Suggestions for amendments and updates are always welcome:
Contact
Office of the President
ETH Sustainability
Weinbergstrasse 41
8092
Zurich
Switzerland