Our latest report on travel behaviour in the public sector has highlighted Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) as a leader in tackling climate emissions from flying and business travel.
Our research
Our ‘Fight or Flight’ report investigates the travel habits of over 150 of Scotland’s public bodies and the findings reveal GCU as one of the climate-friendly leaders.
The university’s ambitious travel policy specifically discourages flying to destinations that can be reached by train within six hours, putting it at the forefront of efforts to promote sustainable travel options.
Transform report author Elspeth Wray (left) awards GCU’s Paulo Cruz and Kärt Tori, University Sustainability Coordinator.
The university has implemented a comprehensive Sustainable Travel Plan that covers all travel to and from its campuses, including student commuting, travel home during breaks, business trips, and freight deliveries.
Crucially, GCU has backed up its commitment with ambitious targets. It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from travel to below 13,000 tCO2e per year by 2025-26 – at least 9% lower than 2018-19 levels and an impressive 34% reduction compared to its 2014-15 baseline.
Report author Elspeth Wray awards Glasgow Caledonian staff and students for the university’s sector-leading climate-conscious travel targets.
The university provides detailed annual reporting on travel emissions, encompassing staff business travel as well as student commuting and travel to/from home (even international students!). Its Climate Conscious Travel & Expenses Policy lays out specific interventions to discourage flying for business trips where practical alternatives exist.
Next steps
Alongside GCU, several other organisations, including Edinburgh Council and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh also performed well in terms of targets and policies to tackle flying emissions. Their policies, targets and monitoring of air travel and emissions act as a model for other organisations to follow.
However, our research also finds that the vast majority of organisations still lack credible plans to curb carbon emissions from flying, with only 1 in 5 of the public sector’s top 50 fliers having a target to tackle air travel emissions.
Transport is the largest emitting sector of the Scottish economy, accounting for 36% of all Scottish emissions. Given that the public sector employs 20% of Scotland’s workforce, it is imperative that the sector commits to reducing emissions from air travel.
By implementing tangible policies, targets and monitoring, alongside promoting sustainable travel behaviour, GCU is demonstrating how positive change can be achieved.
Other organisations must take action and urgently pursue tangible policies to tackle transport emissions.
