Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from UBC Intercampus Air Travel

Air travel contributes to an estimated 3.5-5.0% of anthropogenic climate change. The University of British Columbia (UBC) has proposed achieving net zero emissions by 2035 at their Vancouver campus (UBCV) and 2050 at their Okanagan campus (UBCO), according to their draft Climate Action Plans 2030 (CAP 2030). UBC’s air travel in 2019 was responsible for 18-21% of the university’s total emissions, of which the UBCV to UBCO intercampus air travel comprised an estimated 17%. As UBC transitions out of fully remote and virtual activities during the Covid-19 pandemic (Covid) it is important to capitalize on the lessons learned and define a ‘new normal’ with reduced air travel emissions as well as increased access to equitable and effective alternatives. This directed study therefore aims to uncover the behaviours and motivations of UBC staff and faculty who travel the intercampus corridor by air for university-related activities, in order to gain valuable knowledge about ways in which air travel emissions can be reduced, ideally while maintaining or improving the quality of UBC’s academic and operational objectives. Methods included an online survey and follow-up interviews with any UBCO/UBCV, administrator/non-administrator, staff and faculty members who have ever flown between the two campuses. The survey gathered information on the frequency of seven intercampus activity types: work-related meetings, professional development, public-facing events, visits/tours, research, teaching/learning and conferences; and which format was used: in-person (considered linked to air travel), virtual, or hybrid (a mix of in-person and virtual). To compare the effects of Covid on intercampus activity type and format, we collected this information for three one-year time periods: pre-Covid, during Covid, and a hypothetical post-Covid future. Overall, survey respondents’ behaviour changed from mostly attending in-person, but using some virtual and hybrid formats, for all intercampus activities in the year before Covid, to conducting almost all of these activities virtually during the pandemic. Relative to pre-Covid times, respondents would like to return, post-Covid, to a lower use of the in-person format for intercampus activities (from 48.7 to 40.3 % frequency), and a higher use of the virtual format (20.2 to 30.1%), although in-person would still have a higher use overall than virtual. Respondents preferred not to change usage of the hybrid format (8.3 to 8.2%), which was already relatively low compared to the other formats. Interview results also captured the motivations of UBC staff and faculty behind choosing different formats for intercampus activities, with the main themes that emerged, apart from climate concerns, being equity, social cues, productivity, accessibility, convenience/cost, networking, technology challenges and side-benefits. An important consideration is the inequity experienced by UBCO staff and faculty, who are more frequently on the virtual side of the hybrid format. Survey and interview responses concerning barriers and solutions to reducing air travel led to a set of recommendations, listed in order of priority, from soft tactics encouraging behaviour change to hard ones that are more restrictive. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

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