A recent survey conducted among Université de Montréal professors revealed that their annual air travel alone constituted nearly 85% of the average Canadian’s yearly CO2 emissions. Julie Talbot and Julien Arsenault write that if institutions are going to address the environmental footprint of academic air travel, they might need to explore solutions such as individual commitments to less air travel, fees for conference presenters who travel by air, and video conferencing as some potential solutions. Although the environmental impacts and the efficacy of current solutions are unknown, the authors conclude that, “it is now up to institutions to determine how to adapt their realities to these impacts and to researchers to adopt measures put in place.”
National
Vancouver Sun