Travel on University business: new guidelines on sustainability

As part of the University’s commitment to carbon reduction, the Sustainability Team have consulted with stakeholders from across the University to produced new guidelines on sustainable business travel. The purpose of the guidelines, which were approved by University Council in March, is to support a reduction in non-essential business travel (particularly air travel) and its associated carbon impacts. They are not intended to limit essential travel.

 The guidelines apply to all University staff and all students who choose to / are required to undertake travel as part of their learning or research. In summary, the guidelines recommend that:

• Staff and students attend meetings and conferences virtually 
• Staff and students consider whether their travel is essential (guidance on defining this is provided) 
• Staff and students prioritise modes of travel that have the lowest carbon impact, and provide a hierarchy of preferred travel modes 
• Flights to UK destinations and to European destinations that can be reached by train within six hours from London terminals are discouraged 
• Where it is necessary to travel by plane, staff and students are strongly encouraged to offset the carbon emissions in accordance with the University’s offsetting policy.

Please contact sustainability@admin.cam.ac.uk if you have further questions.