Abstract
To avert the upcoming crisis of climate change, significant changes on different scales and sectors are necessary. The knowledge and research of the higher education sector is an essential part in the fight against climate change already. Many universities admit the urgency of acting within their institution as well and have started to measure their impact on the environment to formulate emission-reduction goals. As part of its sustainability strategy, the University of Graz launched the Institutional Carbon Management (ICM) project to calculate its emissions via a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. In comparison to other inventories, the ICM also includes the gastronomy services on and around the campus of the University of Graz, which is also the focus of this paper. It was found that especially energy- and carbon-intensive food products such as meat and dairy contribute to the emissions of a gastronomy service. In total, the gastronomy service emissions contribute 1.1% to the total emissions inventory of the university. Although the contribution is a rather small portion, the University of Graz sees itself responsible for all its emissions and therefore also aims to gain comprehensive insights into all sub-areas of its institution to formulate validated reduction pathways. The changes to a more sustainable gastronomy and low-emission diets can therefore be seen as part of a wider change towards more environmentally friendly behaviour in general with the overall aim to meet the Paris climate goal.
Highlights
Because of the many differences, the emissions show a great variety between the different gastronomy services (12–74% of total emissions)
Considering all gastronomy services in an average year, energy contributes to about 35% of total emissions
As part of the Institutional Carbon Management project, this paper assessed the greenhouse gas emissions of the gastronomy services related to the campus of the University of Graz
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Climate change and the associated increase in the global average temperature is a severe problem for present and future generations as it has widespread impacts on human and natural systems. To reach the Paris Agreement’s target to limit the increase of global average temperature below 1.5 ◦ C compared to pre-industrial levels and avert the upcoming crises, significant changes on global, national, and local scales in different sectors are necessary. The higher education sector is already an essential pillar in the fight against climate change, as its researchers contribute to the understanding of climate change and its impacts while educating students and society. Many universities admit the urgency of acting more sustainably within their institutions [1,2,3,4,5]
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