Decarbonising academia: confronting our climate hypocrisy

Abstract

Academia is generally carbon intensive. Many academics are highly aeromobile to an extent that is now being framed as a form of ‘climate hypocrisy’. Technological advances are not enough to reduce the negative impacts of flying, and behaviour change is needed. As tourism academics our knowledge of the industry means that we have a greater than average responsibility to show leadership, and yet currently will remain responsible for a disproportionate amount of carbon emissions. At individual and societal levels, we morally disengage from the significance of our impacts and exonerate ourselves with worthy causes, we absolve ourselves from personal responsibility, we disregard the impacts at the destination, and we discredit those impinging on our “rights” to fly. It is time for academic institutions to take responsibility and for academics to show leadership in the sector by auditing our own impacts, reducing them within our current institutional constraints, and envisaging and experimenting with low carbon business models that make us proud of being part of a sustainable solution, and not just reporting how unsustainable everyone else’s behaviour is.

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