Towards Climate Sustainability of the Academic System in Europe and beyond : ALLEA Report | May 2022

ALLEA Working Group Climate Sustainability in the Academic System: Astrid Eichhorn (Chair) – Die Junge Akademie, Chair of Drafting Group Magnus Breitholz – Stockholm University, Drafting Group Valerie Domcke – Die Junge Akademie, Drafting Group Jan Hladky – Czech Academy of Sciences, Drafting Group Debbie Hopkins – University of Oxford, Drafting Group Agnes Kreil – ETH Zurich, Drafting Group Sverker Sörlin – KTH Stockholm, Drafting Group Diarmuid Torney – Royal Irish Academy, Drafting Group Carlo Brabante – National Academy of the Lincei Antonin Fejfar – Czech Academy of Sciences Raphael Heffron – Young Academy of Scotland/Royal Society of Edinburgh Ambreena Manji – Learned Society of Wales, Mykolas Simas Poškus – Mykolas Romeris University, Jana Prodanova - Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts Bart Vermang – Young Academy of Belgium/Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts.

The urgency of the climate crisis is made abundantly clear by the Sixth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The academic system is making an important positive impact by (i) research into the climate crisis and its impact; (ii) research into mitigation and adaptation strategies and technologies; (iii) education of the general public as well as students; (iv) science-based policy advice. In the present report, we focus on the academic system’s negative impact on the climate through its own operations. As with essentially every sector of society, a thorough transformation is necessary to achieve climate sustainability. In the case of the academic system, this need is accentuated by the following point: academic institutions provide knowledge on the climate crisis and potential solutions and mitigation strategies, and therefore should also act on that knowledge. In this way they can also play a leading role in showing how a sector can successfully transition to climate sustainability.