Inom fyra år måste växthusgasutsläppen från industriländer minst halveras (förutsatt att alla gör det) för att vi ens ska ha en liten chans att hålla oss under 1,5 grader (1). Samtidigt planerar världens länder att enbart göra en tredjedel av det som krävs (2).

Det betyder att vi är nära att aktivera en domino av tröskeleffekter som leder till en uppvärmning bortom vår kontroll (3). Vi riskerar att minst lämna över en dubbelt så hög uppvärmning till våra barn och barnbarn (4).

Det får absolut inte ske! Låt oss nu höja våra röster och skicka en tydlig signal till världens ledare att de snabbt måste åstadkomma betydligt större minskningar av växthusgasutsläppen.

Framtiden kan räddas om lärosäten börjar leva som de lär och gör klimatforskningen trovärdig att följa (5).

Petition University of Gothenburg

Only half of the Swedish universities have environmental goals, and wherever present, they are not in line with scientific requirements. In other words, none of the Swedish universities are taking the climate science in due seriousness.

Just like there is no “business on a dead planet”, it is urgent that the universities start practicing what they preach, and give us a reason to study!

Air travel accounts for 93% of GU’s greenhouse gas emissions from the total amount of travelling and vehicle use.

Therefore we ask vice chancellor Eva Wiberg to rule:

- On the adoption of the following goal regarding university travel: carbon dioxide emissions from air travel should decrease by 50% within the next four years.

- That flights with the final destination of under 500 km (e.g. Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen) should be forbidden/banned, without exceptions.

- On giving the suitable institution the responsibility to create an implementation plan in order to reach these goals.

In addition to the goals indicated above, we plea that the management at GU reconceptualises all of the existing environmental goals immediately to cut the total emissions by GU by 50% within the next four years,- in other words, simply to start practicing what they preach in line with the climate research. To do this, GU should also start collecting data from all sectors that produce emissions.

Why is this important?

Greenhouse gas emissions from the developed countries have to be cut down to at least half the current amounts within the next four years (assuming everyone follows through) to even have the merechance of staying below 1,5 degrees of warming (1). Meanwhile, the world’s countries are only doing a third of what is needed.

This means that we are close to activating a domino effect with feedback loops that would lead to a warming beyond our control (3). We are risking to hand over a world to our children and grandchildren that is twice as warm as the 1.5 limit (4).

We cannot allow this to happen! Let’s raise our voices and send a clear signal to the leaders of the world that they have to achieve much greater emissions reductions.

The future can be saved if the universities start practicing what they preach and follow through with the climate research (5).

Referenser:

1. Dagens samhälle (2018). Koldioxidutsläppen måste halveras inom fyra år. Tillgängligt: https://www.dagenssamhalle.se/debatt/koldioxidutslappen-maste-halveras-inom-fyra-ar-23993 [2018-10-05]

2. UNEP (2017). The emission gap report, 2017. Tillgängligt: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/22070/EGR_2017.pdf [2018-10-05]

3. MCC (2018). That’s how fast the carbon clock is ticking. Tillgängligt: https://www.mcc-berlin.net/en/research/co2-budget.html [2018-10-05]

4. PNAS (2018).Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene. Tillgängligt: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/31/1810141115 [2018-10-05]

5. Attari, S.Z. Krantz, D.H. & Weber, E.U. (2016). Statements about climate researchers’ carbon footprints affect their credibility and the impact of their advice. Climatic Change, s. 138.