Students demand universities ‘practice what they preach’ in combating climate change.

Universities and colleges in Sweden are the biggest sinners among state-run authorities when it comes to carbon emissions from flying.

Swedish Radio News reveals that over half of the 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide released by state-run institutions in 2017 came from higher education institutions, with the Karolinska Institute the worst offender.

At Lund University, student organisations are demanding a 50 percent reduction of the school’s emissions within the next 4 years.

“It’s the hypocrisy that is frustrating – the university is a main producer of sustainable science and yet we’re not practicing what we preach, ” Lund student Wilhelm Wanecek tells Radio Sweden.

The 21-year-old, who is studying computer sciences, says those employed by the University fly too much out of habit.

“I don’t think they consider it, it’s just a habit and that’s what we want to change. In 2017, there were 5,000 flights from Lund to Stockholm and only 3,000 train journeys,” he says.

Click on the link to hear the interview.