A new commentary in Lancet Planetary Health this week highlights our #flyingless petition (which you can support here) and encourages research funders to support feasible steps to “substantially and rapidly decarbonise academia.”

Teun Bousema, Leonard Burtscher, Ronald P van Rij, Didier Barret, and Kate Whitfield analyzed selected research activities of the European Research Council (ERC), the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), and other organizations, noting ways that aviation emissions could be reduced while preserving the effectiveness of these important research endeavors.

The authors point out how lessons learned during the pandemic may be carried forward: “Research funders are in a unique position to incentivise and enforce sustainable research practices that are in line with IPCC recommendations. Given the success of virtual meetings during the pandemic, reverting to old practices can only be interpreted as an active decision to ignore international climate action recommendations.”