Working toward a Low-Carbon AAG Meeting: What the GHG Metrics Tell Us

Abstract

As part of a special section on academic knowledge production in an age of climate disruption, this article engages with broad academic discussions on the intersection of conference travel and climate action. Specifically, we undertake a carbon footprint assessment of the travel emissions associated with the American Association of Geographers (AAG) annual gathering under three different scenarios: (1) the AAG’s most recent in-person meeting in 2019 in Washington, DC; (2) the emissions impact of a meeting located in Chicago optimizing travel distance; and (3) a hub meeting model where four meetings occur simultaneously across the United States along with three smaller international hubs. Following this, we discuss the limitations to centering carbon footprints in a climate action agenda. Although footprints are illuminative, we suggest more imaginative pathways that meaningfully engage with ecological and social justice.

关于气候破坏时代中的学术知识创造, 本文对会议旅行和气候行动的交互进行了广泛的学术讨论。具体而言, 我们对美国地理学家协会（AAG）年会在三种不同情况下的出行排放量进行了碳足迹评估：（1）2019年在华盛顿特区召开的AAG最近一次面对面会议, (2）旨在优化旅行距离的芝加哥会议的排放影响；以及（3）中心会议模式（即, 在美国各地同时举行四个会议,以及三个较小的国际中心）。接下来, 我们讨论了将碳足迹置于气候行动议程中的局限性。虽然碳足迹具有启发性, 我们建议采用能更有意义地结合生态正义和社会正义的、更富有想象力的方式。

Como parte de una sección especial sobre la producción de conocimiento académico en una época de alteración climática, este artículo se involucra con las extensas discusiones académicas relacionadas con la intersección de viajes a conferencias y la acción climática. Específicamente, emprendemos una evaluación de la huella del carbono en las emisiones por viajes asociadas con la reunión anual de la Asociación Americana de Geógrafos (AAG), bajo tres diferentes escenarios: (1) la reunión presencial más reciente de la AAG de 2019 en Washington, DC; (2) el impacto por las emisiones de una reunión localizada en Chicago en la que se optimiza la distancia del viaje; y (3) un modelo de reunión focal donde cuatro reuniones ocurren simultáneamente a través de los Estados Unidos, junto con tres reuniones focales internacionales más pequeñas. Luego de esto, discutimos sobre las limitaciones de centrar la huella del carbono en una agenda de acción climática. Aunque las huellas son iluminativas, sugerimos caminos más imaginativos que significativamente aboquen la justicia ecológica y social.

Key Words:

• AAG
• carbon footprint
• low-carbon conference

关键词:

• AAG
• 碳足迹
• 低碳会议。

Palabras clave:

• AAG
• huella del carbono
• conferencia sobre bajo-carbono

Notes

1 The original petition can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vJk8ICBwB4HO2wz1b_wk1YEXQnv5kZBVeTuS37Nr9Zo/edit.

2 Emission factors used include trips by car (0.343 kg CO₂ per mile), short-haul flights (0.225 kg CO₂ per passenger mile), medium-haul flights (0.136 kg CO₂ per passenger mile), and long-haul flights (0.166 kg CO₂ per passenger mile; EPA 2020). Only CO₂ emissions were calculated. In keeping with the GHG Protocol, we did not include nitrous oxide or methane, which also occur with the combustion of aviation fuel, but in such small amounts that their inclusion would result in a less than 5 percent change in the total footprint results.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jayme Walenta

JAYME WALENTA is a feminist economic geographer in the Department of Geography & Environment at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research investigates intersections between capitalism and the law, particularly as it concerns environmental policymaking and its spatial justice implications.

Aylin Castro

AYLIN CASTRO is a feminist political geographer in the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research investigates how environmental justice and grassroots activism can be implemented in environmental education.