AU Green Guide: Transport

Flying consumes large amounts of energy, which converts to CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and air travel is a significant contributor to global climate change. It's a good idea to consider the following before you book a business flight:

• Is your trip absolutely necessary? Could you replace it with a virtual meeting or plan a meeting venue closer to home?
• Alternative means of transport: Is there an alternative to flying? For example, choosing the train, bus/coach or carpooling?
• Combine several purposes in one trip: If you are going to fly, you might consider whether you could pool more activities into the same trip rather than flying on several occasions.
• Consider combining forms of transport, e.g. taking the plane to Frankfurt and then the train to Milan. 

If you cannot avoid travelling by air, you can look into which airline or flight, etc. is the most climate-friendly alternative:

• On Atmosfair's website, you can find out which companies have the most modern and fuel-efficient aircraft, i.e. impact the climate the least.
• Each stopover costs CO₂. You can help the environment by finding a direct route or taking the train for some of the journey to avoid stopovers.

A good way to save CO₂ is to reduce the number of people driving alone by car. If you are going the same way, for example to and from a course or a conference, you can help the climate by organising a carpool with your colleagues. It's also a good idea to organise a carpool to and from work.

Obviously, the bicycle is a climate-friendly transport alternative. So, if you can choose the bike, then you'll be choosing the greenest mode of transport.