The members of the Junge Akademie Germany have committed themselves to abstain from short-haul flights under 1000km when traveling to workshops and conferences. At the same time, they call on German policymakers to develop binding regulations for the interpretation of the budget and grant law, in order to make the compensation of CO2 emissions with each business trip possible, as well as the reimbursement of resulting costs.The statement argues that the reimbursement of the true costs of traveling, including compensation for CO2, would constitute the much-needed first step for changing the culture of business travel. The statement was initiated by the Junge Akademie’s Research Group on Sustainability.
The statement (in German) can be found here.
The GYA is currently looking into how to fund travel compensation costs to its Annual General Meeting in India in June 2020.