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Labos 1point5 : reducing the environmental footprint of academic research
Researchers have come to realize that research itself produces a carbon footprint. In the context of a global climate emergency, academia has a role in producing knowledge, teaching, and raising broad-based awareness about the issues - but not at the expense of exacerbating the underlying problems.
In 2019, the Labos 1point5 project was launched in France to engage the academic community in a transformative path toward reducing carbon emissions in research activities. Today, working across disciplines, over 2000 members of the French academic community - including above 600 actively working in six project teams - are using the latest tools and data to evaluate, understand and decrease the carbon footprint of their own research activities. Since 2019, Labos 1point5 has reached several objectives :
• Creating and sharing of the GES 1point5 online open-source tool to estimate carbon footprints at the scale of an entire research lab. Currently, about 200 research labs are completing their carbon footprint estimates with GES 1point5, and about 20 are enrolled in an in-situ experiment to target the most efficient emission-reduction actions. GES 1point5 constitutes a unique database to asses the carbon footprint of research at the scale of a country.
• Developing and disseminating a nationwide sociological survey to deepen understanding of the structural and practical issues involved in reducing carbon footprints. Over 7000 answers to the survey have been received so far and scientific analysis has started.
• Negotiating with major public research institutions to facilitate access to data related to carbon emissions, and create an official structure (Groupement de recherche Labos 1point5) to support research activities on the subject.
In this seminar, we will present the status of the Labos 1point5 project and its first scientific results, as well as a number of perspectives.