Climate CV
Preamble
Many of us are aware of the fact that flying is one of the main contributors to the global climate breakdown. Still, many of us fly. As scientists, we have – ostensibly – various reasons to fly: We fly to conferences to present talks or posters, we are invited to present our work, or we simply meet with fellow scientists to discuss future grant proposals. All in the knowing that this behaviour results in a climate footprint that is beyond any scale of sustainability.
The idea of this climate CV originated from discussions in the research group “Environmental Psychology” located at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany. We invite scientists of all disciplines to think about their travelling, and to create, provide, and discuss their own climate CV. With being transparent in our own ranks, we hope to contribute to a society that questions the necessity of flying. We also hope to contribute to a shift in mental as well as material infrastructures that make scientific meetings more compatible with strong sustainability concerns and our meta-goal of decreasing emissions.
Climate CV of Dr. Laura Loy
(updated: October 2021)
I love travelling. When I was seventeen, I had the chance to visit New Zealand as an exchange student and I returned to this amazing country at the other end of the world seven years later. These experiences and others are amongst the best of my life. In fact, the beauty of the nature I witnessed was one of my main motivators to engage in environmental protection. However, I see that these experiences are a great privilege, I cannot take for granted. When I travelled to international conferences, I always combined them with holidays of about two weeks to explore country and people. This too has been a luxury. The sustainable yearly climate budget for a human being is estimated to be 2,300 kg.
List of attended conferences / workshops / research stays
Distance (X) calculations were approximated using Google maps (car, bus, and train) and https://www.luftlinie.org/ (airplane). Based on these values, greenhouse gas emissions in CO2 equivalents were calculated with
- 32 g * X km; for travel by bus
- 38 g * X km; for travel by train
- 140 g * X km; for travel by car
- 214 g * X km; for travel by airplane
(values are based on German Environmental Agency: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/376/publikationen/180607_uba_hg_fernbus_bf.pdf)
Year | Destination | Reason | Distance & Transport | CO2 emitted |
2021 | Heidelberg - Siracusa (Italy) - Heidelberg | Talk at International Conference on Environmental Psychology (ICEP) | 4,000 km by train | 152.0 kg |
2019 | Landau - Plymouth (England) - Landau | Talk at International Conference on Environmental Psychology (ICEP) | 2,290 km by train | 87.0 kg |
2018 | Stuttgart – Frankfurt – Stuttgart | Talk at 51st conference of the German Psychological Association (DGPs) | 416 km by train | 15.8 kg |
2017 | Stuttgart – Landau – Stuttgart | Talk at 10th media psychology conference (DGPs) | 222 km by train | 8.4 kg |
2017 | Stuttgart – A Coruna (Spain) – Stuttgart | Talk at International Conference on Environmental Psychology (ICEP) | 1,840 km by airplane 610 km by train 1,944 km by bus | 479.2 kg |
2017 | Stuttgart – San Diego (USA) – Stuttgart | Talk at 67th conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) | 18,880 by airplane 390 km by train | 4,055.1 kg |
2017 | Stuttgart – Düsseldorf – Stuttgart | Attendance at conference of the German association for communication science (DGPuK) | 820 km by train | 31.2 kg |
2016 | Stuttgart – Nottingham (England) – Stuttgart | 10 weeks research stay at School of Psychology | 2,284 km by train | 86.8 kg |
2016 | Stuttgart – Fukuoka (Japan) – Stuttgart | 2 Talks at 66th conference of the ICA | 18,860 km by airplane 2.180 km by train | 4,118.8 kg |
2015 | Stuttgart – Jena – Stuttgart | Talk at 9th methods & evaluation conference (DGPs) | 766 km by train | 29.1 kg
|
2015 | Stuttgart – Groningen (Netherlands) – Stuttgart | Attendance Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology (BCEP) | 1,334 km by train | 50.7 kg |
2015 | Stuttgart – Tübingen – Stuttgart | Talk at 9th media psychology conference (DGPs) | 86 km by car with others | 12.0 kg |
2015 | Stuttgart – Puerto Rico (USA) – Stuttgart | Poster at 65th conference of the ICA | not gone | - |
2015 | Stuttgart – Berlin – Stuttgart | Talk at conference on sustainability communication | 1,268 km by train | 48.2 kg |
2014 | Stuttgart – Bochum – Stuttgart | Talk at 49th conference of the DGPs | 886 km by train | 33.7 kg |
2014 | Stuttgart – Friedrichshafen – Stuttgart | Talk at PhD workshop, social psychology division (DGPs) | 400 km by train | 15.2 kg |
2014 | Stuttgart – Seattle (USA) – Stuttgart | Talk at PhD workshop, 64th conference of the ICA | 16,656 km by airplane | 3,564.4 kg |
2014 | Stuttgart – Hannover – Stuttgart | Talk & workshop at media reception & effects conference (DGPuK) | 1,028 km by train | 39.1 kg |
2013 | Stuttgart – Würzburg – Stuttgart | Talk at PhD-workshop, media psychology conference (DGPs) | 296 km by train | 11.2 kg |
2013 | Stuttgart – Magdeburg – Stuttgart | Attendance at BCEP | 1,006 km by train | 38.2 kg |
2013 | Stuttgart – London – Stuttgart | Attendance at 63rd conference of the ICA | 1,852 km by train | 70.4 kg |
2011 | Konstanz – Eindhoven (Netherlands) – Konstanz | Student attendance at BCEP | 1,316 km by bus | 42.1 kg |
2009 | Konstanz – Zürich (Switzerland) – Konstanz | Student attendance at BCEP | 140 km by train | 5.3 kg |