Air Travel

Staff air travel is our biggest carbon consumer - find out how you can help

Work-related air travel is the university's biggest source of carbon emissions

Photo credits Claire Tay

At Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, we are mindful of our ecological footprint on the wider world. We know that we can deliver our first-rate teaching and research while also treading a little lighter on the planet. While aviation is consistently the university's largest source of emissions, we're making progress. The last few years have shown us that we can prosper with less air travel, but we have to be very cognisant of not falling back into our old air travel heavy ways.

Herein lies an opportunity to continue to reduce our carbon footprint, achieve our yearly goal of reducing air travel by 4.5% university-wide, and live up to the sustainable values we have here at Victoria University. We are calling on staff to acknowledge and take responsibility for their ecological impact. As academic commitments vary from person-to-person, there are several different pledge levels. Choose the one that works best for you to commit to for the 2026 academic year.