Project Background
The goal of the ETH Air Travel Project is to pursue a CO2 emissions reduction pathway that is compatible with excellence in science and the best possible career opportunities for researchers.
As an internationally connected university with a high reputation, ETH Zurich depends on the cooperation and exchange with worldwide partners. Participation in conferences and the implementation of international projects play an important role for researchers at all career levels.
At the same time, ETH Zurich has a great responsibility in contributing to climate, environmental and resource protection. Emissions from business travel cause a significant share of ETH Zurich's total greenhouse gas emissions. About 93% of these emissions are caused by work-related air travel. Car travel (with 5%) and train travel (with 2%) contribute significantly less (see Download ETH Sustainability Report 2019/2020 (PDF, 13 MB)).
When it comes to curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the reduction of air travel in the scientific sector has great potential. With the Air Travel Project, ETH Zurich is taking on the challenge of focusing on climate protection in the business travel sector without worsening the framework conditions for scientists.
The approach is participative, fact-based and solution-oriented and is based on a combination of top-down requirements and bottom-up implementation. In the case of the Air Travel project, the participatory process and governance in particular have attracted a great deal of attention - not only in the research community, but also from the national and international public. ETH Zurich thus places itself as a pioneer and responsible federal institution that has set out to reconcile high-performance research and teaching with sustainable mobility. In 2020, the project was among the finalists for the external page International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) Award 2020.