Sustainability
Video Conferencing
Media Services can provide video conferencing for a variety of different events including:
- Meetings
- Lectures
- Phd VIVA
- Interviews
- Research group collaboration
- Conference appearances
There are dedicated video conference suites, portable video conference facilities for larger meetings and loan equipment for huddle space conferencing.
Consider including a remote option for activities with external visitors (e.g. conferences and symposia with option for presenters to present remotely).
Comparing Carbon of different travel options
At carbon.manchester.ac.uk you can compare carbon footprints for air, rail, ferry and electric/fossil fuel car travel.
Key Travel
- View the carbon footprint of any flight and Eurostar train journey by clicking ‘details’ button.
- Show the lowest carbon option first by selecting ‘sort by greenest’ option.
- Use the basket to compare different routes side by side, including carbon footprints.
Examples of carbon footprints of conference attendance
Attending remotely or by train has much lower impacts compared to flying. The different shades illustrate the effects of different ticket classes. Business class has much higher impacts than economy due to the extra space and resources needed per seat.
Sources for the image below: UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2022, Obringer et al. 2021, The overlooked environmental footprint of increasing internet use and https://www.distance.to/
Carbon Calculator
- Set country to UK on welcome tab to ensure correct emissions factors are used.
- Use tabs to calculate carbon emissions from flights, car, motorbike, bus, rail, tram and taxi journeys.
Cost low-carbon travel options into research proposals
We acknowledge that some travel is necessary to carry out research and we encourage colleagues to consider whether the proposed travel is essential to deliver the objectives of the research project. Consider how to minimise and reduce travel where possible. Use the travel decision tree, tips and resources on this page to help.
Low carbon Travel stories
Low carbon travel stories
- See how other colleagues are taking action to reduce their travel emissions.
- Share how you have avoided or reduced your travel, switched to a lower-carbon alternative or maximised the value of travel by combining trips.
Carbon offsetting
The University’s current policy is not to directly purchase emission offset credits, allowances or units unless stipulated as a requirement by a funding organisation. Any offsets purchased will not contribute to our carbon reduction targets.
The University of Manchester is concerned about the efficacy and legitimacy of paying others to reduce our impact on the climate. Instead we seek to directly minimise our carbon emissions particularly when we use energy in our buildings and when we travel.
Reporting policy change progress
This graph shows how our University is doing in its aim to limit annual emissions from air travel to 50% of our 2018/19 level (pre the Covid-19 pandemic).
We have changed our travel policy as part of a wider project to reduce our total carbon footprint, not just from our business travel but also our buildings, fleet vehicles, what we buy and our investments.
To monitor our progress, we are comparing carbon emissions for business travel for each quarter of this academic year (2022-23) with the same one of 2018-19.
You can see this on the graph below:
