{"id":94911,"date":"2019-02-12T13:05:59","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T12:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=94911"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:12","slug":"academics-must-make-more-conscious-decisions-regarding-their-work-related-flights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/02\/12\/academics-must-make-more-conscious-decisions-regarding-their-work-related-flights\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Academics must make more conscious decisions regarding their work-related flights\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-two prominent academics working at Dutch universities sounded the alarm last week regarding climate change, stating in a letter that universities must be more proactive in their climate policies and in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Thea Hilhorst of ISS was one of the Rotterdam-based signatories of the letter. \u201cAcademics must drastically reduce the amount of air travel they undertake.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Thea Hilhorst<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cI used to think: I\u2019ll try to minimise the number of flights I undertake in my private life, but any flights I take for work reasons are par for the course, and I\u2019ll make up for them by eating a few more vegetarian meals every now and then.\u201d However, Thea Hilhorst (a professor of development aid\u00a0 and reconstruction at Erasmus University\u2019s Institute of Social Studies) changed her mind about that tactic some eighteen months ago. Since then she has significantly reduced the amount of air travel she undertakes.<\/p>\n

While attending a debate at De Balie (a centre for politics, culture and media in Amsterdam), Hilhorst discovered that flying is a great deal more harmful to the environment than she had hitherto believed it to be \u2013 \u201cto the point where I would have to be a vegetarian for five years to offset one single intercontinental flight.\u201d And the distinction between work-related flights and non-work-related flights \u2013 used by many people to justify their air travel \u2013 turned out not to make much sense, either. \u201cThey are both equally harmful, an attendee at De Balie pointed out. Obviously, he was right. To me, that was a bit of a turning point.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their letter, the signatories raised six changes they said would make universities\u2019 climate policies more effective, one of these being a \u2018drastic reduction\u2019 of air travel. By now, more than 650 employees of Dutch universities have signed the letter, including fifty EUR employees. \u201cI call on all university employees \u2013 that is to say, not just academic staff \u2013 to sign the letter. They can do so until mid-March. After that we want to offer the letter to the universities\u2019 Executive Boards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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