During the first year of adopting our new travel policy, our University has achieved an impressive milestone. We have nearly halved our air travel emissions, decreasing them from 18,641 tonnes of CO2e (CO2equivalent) in 2018/19 to just over 10,000 tonnes of CO2e in 2022/23.

The reduction in our emissions is equivalent to the carbon produced from driving over 32.5 million miles in an average petrol car. Although we didn’t quite reach our target, we have achieved something truly remarkable.

Our new travel policy, which was put into effect last year, supports our ambition to be a leader in developing sustainable research and teaching practices. This is part of a wider project to reduce our total carbon footprint in line with our Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

The impact of our new travel policy has shown how important changing our behaviour is when trying to combat climate change. Even small changes can lead to big results.

Vice-President for Social Responsibility, Professor Nalin Thakkar said: “We have made a big difference, and I am so proud of the colleagues who rose to the challenge and found greener ways to work. Let’s keep continuing to address our travel for work, a proven successful strategy, to hit or even beat our target next year.”

Support and guidance

We are providing guidance and a range of support to those who are affected by the new travel policy, including a ‘top-up fund’ to cover additional costs. Please visit:

• Before Travelling

Our Travel FAQs address concerns you may have when attempting to reduce your air travel:

• Travel FAQs

You can also get ideas on greener ways to work from our colleague case studies:

• A revelation – international work travel by train
• Funding for greener international travel