Climate change: university researchers feel powerless to take action – survey

By Briony Latter, Cardiff University

University researchers in the UK, across all disciplines and at all career stages, are struggling to take action against climate change despite wanting to do so.

Many academics worry about climate change but face several barriers to changing their habits, including the pressure to travel. In one case, a climate researcher conducting field work abroad wanted to use slower and more sustainable forms of transport rather than fly back to work at a research institute in Germany. He was fired.

As large institutions and centres of knowledge, universities play an important role in tackling climate change. Their education and research has an enormous influence on society, but they are also large emitters – universities and further education colleges represent 2.3% of the UK’s carbon footprint.

Researchers can take collective action that helps universities address climate change. Given the right support, they could shape a future where research is more sustainable. But until recently, there has been little attention paid to how the culture and practices of universities either enables or inhibits change.

Along with colleagues, I surveyed almost 2,000 early, mid- and senior career researchers in 127 UK universities. We received responses from a mix of disciplines that were largely reflective of the UK’s higher education sector. The results were stark.

What we found

Nearly all (95%) are extremely, very or somewhat worried about climate change. A similar amount (96%) want to do more about the problem in their university, not necessarily within the confines of their roles, but are prevented by high workloads, uncertainty over what they can do and a lack of agency or power to act.

The majority think their university does not give them enough information about how to conduct research in a sustainable way. Funding processes, such as applications for grants to carry out research, do not incentivise low-carbon approaches either, they say.

One academic said: “I don’t think anyone scores the carbon footprint of their grants (maybe we should)”. They feel that the research culture of universities must change to better address climate change.

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