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One way of reducing carbon emissions is to reduce carbon emissions from consumption. Quantitative information about these emissions helps to better understand the reduction potential. This article aims to provide carbon footprint data for students of the University of Applied Science in Konstanz, Germany. The study includes almost 10% of the University’s students. Data on emission patterns was collected via questionnaires and calculated by a web-based carbon calculator. The study analyses personal carbon footprints and, more detailed, carbon emissions from consumption categories heating, electricity, mobility (land travel and aviation) and food. The findings show average students’ annual carbon footprint to be10.9t CO2eq and in the same order of magnitude as the German average. While students cause less emissions through heating because of smaller living space per person, they cause significantly more emissions by aviation. Female students tend to have higher emissions from aviation, instead male students have higher emissions from food (due to more meat in their diet). Business students have higher emissions than others, mainly because they are tending to fly more. The student carbon footprint is far above climate protection goals formulated for 2050.
Purpose
In order to combat climate change and safeguard a liveable future we need fundamental and rapid social change. Climate communication can play an important role to nurture the public engagement needed for this change, and higher education for sustainability can learn from climate communication.
Approach
The scientific evidence base on climate communication for effective public engagement is summarised into ten key principles, including ‘basing communication on people’s values’, ‘conscious use of framing’, and ‘turning concern into action’. Based on the author’s perspective and experience in the university context, implications are explored for sustainability in higher education.
Findings
The article provides suggestions for teaching (e.g. complement information with consistent behaviour by the lecturer, integrate local stories, and provide students with basic skills to communicate climate effectively), for research (e.g. make teaching for effective engagement the subject of applied research), for universities’ third mission to contribute to sustainable development
in the society (e.g. provide climate communication trainings to empower local stakeholders), andgreening the campus (develop a proper engagement infrastructure, e.g. by a university storytelling exchange on climate action).
Originality
The article provides an up-to-date overview of climate communication research, which is in itself original. This evidence base holds interesting learnings for institutions of higher education, and the link between climate communication and universities has so far not been explored comprehensively.
Per-capita greenhouse gas emissions in cities like Bangkok or Shanghai have already reached emission levels of cities like London or Toronto. Large parts of the building stock and service infrastructure in cities in rapidly developing countries will be built in the coming decades—and may lock in high emissions pathways. A survey of projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol shows that only about 1% of projects have been submitted by municipalities, mostly in the waste management and more recently in the transport sector. This is probably due to a lack of technical know-how, legal barriers, methodological challenges, long project cycles and limited “visibility” of projects for the electorate. A case study of city network ICLEI’s experience with the CDM adds practical insights. We conclude that while the new market mechanisms under Article 6 may make it easier for municipalities to engage in international market mechanisms, new forms of cooperation between actors on multiple levels, potentially facilitated by ICLEI, are required to help to realize the urban potential in international market mechanisms.