Climate framework to

Halving climate emissions in ten years

The University of Gothenburg will halve its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. This is the implication of the Climate Framework, which the university has undertaken to follow. One suggestion is to create a carbon dioxide budget to direct climate initiatives.

– Reducing emissions is quite simply a matter of credibility for the university, student representative Elin Gunnarsson points out.

IT WAS ON September 26 last year that Vice-Chancellor Eva Wiberg decided that the University of Gothenburg should join the Climate Framework for universities and colleges. A committee has now submitted a report with proposals on priority areas, to which the Vice-Chancellor has given her support.

One of the proposals involves an investigation of the emission sources that the university does not currently measure, says Fredrik Högberg, coordinator at the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development, GMV.

– IT INVOLVES, for example, new buildings and the materials we buy, such as furniture and computers. But it can also apply to documents that we store on different servers, which generate carbon dioxide emissions without us realizing it. None of this has previously been included in the environmental report the university produces every year, and that needs to change.

An exhaustive account of emissions is an important prerequisite for the committee’s next proposal: a carbon budget.

– IN ORDER TO be able to successfully halve our carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, we must reduce emissions by about 6 percent a year, explains Henrik Aronsson, Head of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. To do that, of course we must know what our current emissions are. Certain savings, such as heating and electricity, may be difficult to achieve,

... It would mean that the Climate Fund would receive about 50 million SEK per year. FREDRIK HÖGBERG

while others may be easier. For example, trips within Europe could increasingly be taken by train. To make it more appealing, they must be easy to book and the prices must be reasonable. Moreover, perhaps some compensation should be given for the extra time required. For trips outside Europe, it is important to first carry out an environmental impact assessment; some long-distance trips could be replaced by digital meetings instead.

The students have been the driving force when it comes to climate initiatives, says Elin Gunnarsson, Vice President of the University of Gothenburg Student Unions, GUS.

– Sometimes you hear talk about there being a contradiction between sustainability