HÍ climate targets threatened by staff plane travel

Translator: Colin Fisher

According to the last environmental report from HÍ, voluntary airplane trips taken by staff account for up to 80% of Háskóli Íslands’ total carbon footprint. The university’s carbon footprint decreased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, as there were significantly fewer flights during that time. But, emissions since then have increased and are now reaching a similar level as before the pandemic. To achieve the reduction target set by the state, the university must decrease emissions by at least 40% by 2030, but reluctance to set limits on airplane travel makes it unlikely that the goal will be reached.

A journalist from Stúdentablaðið interviewed Sólrún Sigurðardóttir and Jón Sigurður Pétursson, project heads at HÍ’s Division of Operations and Resources. Among other things, they oversee the green accounting of the university and produce an environmental report once a year.

Accounting is becoming more detailed and precise

“HÍ first became involved in green accounting in 2012,” Sólrún says, “but it was not until 2018 that the accounting had to be made considerably more detailed. It was then that we started to map out the flights taken by staff and collect information about the fuel usage of the car fleet, and other cases, and because of this, we use the year 2018 as a reference point for the accounting. We are always adding new features to accounting, so it’s not perfectly comparable between the years, but it can still give us a good picture of how it has evolved in the past years.

“What features are you most focused on?”

“One of the parts that we are looking at in this accounting is paper usage and print services,” Jón Sigurður says, “but we have always looked at whether the paper is certified and things like that, but greenhouse gas emissions from paper production are not calculated. We are also looking at electricity and hot water usage, but as before, emissions are not calculated from hot water use. International plane travel is the biggest culprit when it comes to carbon accounting, and in that accounting, there are four items we are monitoring: driving, waste, electricity, and flights.”

“However, the accounting lacks information on transportation use of staff members and students to and from the university,” Sólrún adds, “and that’s something that we want to have. A detailed survey on transportation was conducted at the end of last year, which the School of Social and Natural Sciences managed, and reached out to staff and students. We are beginning to work with the results. But ours is a car-oriented culture, and I’m afraid the numbers will be rather high, unfortunately.”

“Has the university set certain targets in environmental matters, such as a numerical target of decreased emissions?”

“The government set the target at a 40% decrease before 2030 as compared to 2018. This target has been updated to 55%, but we haven’t updated our target yet and that’s a conversation that has to take place,” Jón Sigurður says.

“Yes, and to reach this target of a 40% decrease, we have to decrease the emissions from air travel by 45%,” says Sólrun.

Less waste, but not necessarily better sorting

According to the accounting, the amount of waste produced at the university has decreased by 30% from 2018. The proportion of waste that has been sorted for recycling has, however, stayed the same. “The proportion of recycling has actually worsened slightly since 2020,” Sólrún says. “It used to be 63% and has decreased to 53%, but emissions from waste have still decreased as the total quantity of waste is simply less, and that surely is a positive development, even though we’d, of course, like to see a higher rate of recycling. Both the Student Association and Háma have decreased the use of one-use containers and now offer multiple-use items in their place, and that has had an effect.”

More electric cars, but not fewer ICE cars

Green accounting shows that electric cars in the university fleet have increased from 6 to 11 in the period 2018-2022. On the other hand, emissions from cars used by HÍ did not truly decrease, as the number of ICE cars (Internal Combustion Engine) has not. In addition, accounting covers only part of the car fleet, and emissions are thus underestimated, as Sólrún points out: “There are organisations within HÍ that control their own cars and are not included in these figures, as we lack data on their energy consumption, but it is good to note that we at HÍ have a construction sector where larger cars are used and we recently invested in an electric truck, so some things are happening at least.”

According to the accounting, emissions from cars at HÍ have increased 22% from 2018. Sólrún says the numbers are not comparable, however, as data was missing in 2018 and emissions were underestimated. “We had very unclear information from our partners at first, and occasionally no information at all,” Jón Sigurður says. “When we asked for information, we kept getting the answer: ‘We can’t provide it.’ The bus companies, on the other hand, have become quite good at this now, and the car rental companies have gotten better at it as well. But we were shocked recently when Hreyfill (a taxi company) refused to provide information unless we paid for it. There are surely some costs associated with recording this information, but once the system is up and running, it should be fairly easy to provide.”

Half of the staff come to work alone in a car

“Yes, we truly are a car-oriented nation, that has to be said,” says Sólrún. “That actually surprised us when we saw from the initial results of the transportation survey that these numbers are even worse among students. In the winter, 60% of the students come in a car by themselves.”

“What can we do? You’re asking big questions…” (Sólrún sighs.) “We are trying to improve the infrastructure for those who want to opt for eco-friendly transportation. This fall we set up a locked bike shelter at Læknagarður, for example, and we have at last obtained a building permit for a locked shelter at the back of the main building and Tæknigarður. Some of these new electric bikes are expensive, and understandably, people want to have a decent place to store their bikes.”

Parking fees and transportation passes discussed at the University Assembly

Proposals for a parking fee system around the university have long been discussed, but there has been no consensus on implementation so far. The matter was brought in front of the University Assembly in January, and there seems to have been significant agreement on the proposals. There are ideas to use the savings that would result from implementing a parking fee to offer students passes for public transportation, meaning a discounted yearly pass from Strætó. However, the final decision has not been taken. “This has always been a sensitive issue, some people want to be able to use parking facilities free of charge, but then there are those who never come to the university by car and ask ‘When is something going to be done for me? Why is HÍ already covering the operating costs of parking lots, which run into the tens of millions every year, while not doing anything for me, who comes on a bike, walking, or with the bus?’ Equality must be ensured.”

Fewer employees make use of transportation agreements

Green accounting shows that the number of transportation agreements between the university and its employees has collapsed in a matter of years, from 219 agreements in 2020 down to 63 in the year 2022. When asked, Sólrún says the agreements were probably not good enough for the employees to see the benefit of signing the contracts. “The idea is that all employees working 50% or more can sign a contract in exchange for committing to come to work by eco-friendly means at least 40% of the time. In exchange for this, they can either get a discount for a yearly pass on the bus (15,000 krónur discount on a pass that costs 104,000 krónur) or free access to the HÍ gym, but the pass for the gym is rather cheap anyway. We are now looking into whether it would be possible to implement a parking fee which would reduce the cost of managing parking facilities, and the savings could be redirected towards better transportation agreements, but it is still unsure whether this will happen in the near future. For example, I walk to work, but I haven’t seen a reason to use an agreement, as I don’t use the gym.”

Air travel emissions: the elephant in the room

HÍ’s green accounting report makes it obvious that air travel is the elephant in the room when considering the University’s carbon footprint. In 2018, air travel accounted for 75% of all emissions. The numbers decreased significantly during the pandemic, but the proportion was back to 65% in 2022 and could turn out to be higher in 2023 (the numbers for 2023 are due in the coming months). This situation is in spite of the fact that the report uses the emissions calculator provided by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, which doesn’t include the non-CO₂ warming effect from aviation, although most scientists recommend multiplying CO₂ emissions by 2 in the case of aviation to account for the increased warming effect of burning fossil fuel in the higher atmosphere. When these effects are taken into account, flight emissions in 2022 accounted for 80% of all emissions while waste, which usually gets the most attention, accounted for less than 7% of the total.

When asked, Sólrún and Jón Sigurður confess to not having the authority to set limits on flights taken by staff.

“We are monitoring these emissions, but we really don’t have any authority to set limits or bans on staff flights,” Sólrún says. “What we have been doing instead is to point out these numbers and try to encourage people to consider them, and we have found that there is an increased willingness among the managers at HÍ to discuss these matters. We have also made a decision tree accessible about flights, which is a mechanism to help people decide if a plane trip is needed. It would also probably be possible to decrease the number of flights by combining different trips into a single one.”

The target will not be reached unless flights are considered

If the 40% emissions decrease target is to be reached, it is clear that emissions from flights will have to be drastically reduced. The journalist asked Sólrún and Jón Sigurður how this can be achieved, and whether the university should take action instead of relying solely on individual goodwill. Some have suggested a quota system whereby staff would be allocated a maximum number of flights per year.

“We have sometimes discussed that between us, but I think we won’t see anything happen until the government lays down the line. For example, some have argued that travel subsidies should be decreased, and that would of course have an effect on the number of flights.”

“But isn’t this something the university could do without waiting for the government? Would this generally be understood by the staff?”

“I am sure that some people would take it well, but we can’t really say for sure. Personally, we would support such an initiative. The problem is we are always talking about promoting international cooperation as it’s part of HÍ’s strategy, but at the same time, we are trying to reduce our emissions. Sometimes it seems like these are contradictory goals. Of course, the needs of specific jobs are different, and some jobs call for more foreign travel than others, but I’m still pretty sure it’s possible to reduce the amount of flights taken.”

“Are you still optimistic that the 40% target will be reached?”

“I felt some optimism during the pandemic, as I thought now people were at last decreasing their consumption, but of course I’m most worried about flight emissions now as they are the biggest factor,” Sólrún says. “But then we also need to consider transport to and from the university in accounting, and then maybe it’ll be clear that there’s still a lot of work to do there as well. But well, shouldn’t we keep our optimism…?”

“We’ll let you know when the newest numbers come out,” Jón Sigurður adds, and grins…

University of IcelandJean-Rémi ChareyreMarch 8, 2024