Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • COMMENT

An analysis of ways to decarbonize conference travel after COVID-19

Biennials, regional hubs and virtual attendance can slash emissions, new calculations show.
  1. Milan Klöwer

    1. Milan Klöwer is a PhD student in climate modelling at the University of Oxford, UK.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Debbie Hopkins

    1. Debbie Hopkins is an associate professor in human geography at the University of Oxford, UK.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  3. Myles Allen

    1. Myles Allen is a professor of geosystem science at the University of Oxford, UK.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  4. James Higham

    1. James Higham is a professor in sustainable tourism at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Before the pandemic, many academics were frequent flyers. We travelled to conferences and board meetings, to conduct fieldwork, to visit collaborators and to give seminars and lectures. Many of us took multiple long-haul flights per year and have accrued thousands of air miles.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 583, 356-359 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02057-2

References

  1. International Energy Agency. Tracking Transport 2020 (IEA, 2020).

  2. Carmichael, R. Behaviour Change, Public Engagement and Net Zero (Committee on Climate Change, 2019).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Banister, D. Inequality in Transport (Alexandrine, 2018).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Moran, D. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 13, 064041 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hopkins, D., Higham, J., Orchiston, C. & Duncan, T. Geog. J. 185, 472–484 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Caset, F., Boussauw, K. & Storme, T. J. Transport Geog. 70, 64–67 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wynes, S., Donner, S. D., Tannason, S. & Nabors, N. J. Cleaner Prod. 226, 959–967 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Tyndall Travel Strategy (Tyndall Centre, 2015).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cobb, K. M., Kalmus, P. & Romps, D. M. Eos https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO111475 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ford, H. L. et al. Nature 576, 32–35 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Supplementary Information

  1. Supplementary figures and methods

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links