The issues that climate change presents are not confined by borders, nor are the solutions to them. Yet, we often see universities approach decarbonisation as a competitive endeavour, seeking to outperform their peers in green ranking metrics. In 2021, more than 1,000 universities pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050, and some even pledged to do so by 2030. Many have rolled out grand plans and strategies outlining their plans to reach net zero.
We often hear about the kind of logistical and financial challenges that universities are facing in realising these grand plans to address the climate emergency. It is widely accepted that decarbonisation of higher education is extremely expensive, and costs may vary depending on whether the university is based in the Global North or Global South. For example, Grant Thornton estimates the cost of decarbonising the British HE sector to be £37.1 billion.
No single institution can or should tackle these complexities alone. Collaboration among universities will allow for the sharing of best practices, resources and knowledge. Additionally, universities are best positioned to develop cross-sectoral partnerships with state and non-state actors. Such critical partnerships can help build smart infrastructures and develop low-carbon technologies.
The role of the humanities and social sciences
Discussions on decarbonisation often revolve around STEM interventions, from developing carbon capture solutions to modelling carbon data. While these are extremely essential, their success or failure is contingent upon understanding nature, human engagement, values, culture and social behaviour. And the humanities and social sciences have a crucial role to play in this, yet they remain distanced from broader sustainability conversations.
This is partly owing to the traditional academic structure within the humanities and social sciences that prioritises specialised knowledge over interdisciplinarity. This leads to the creation of a structure that rewards depth over breadth. However, climate change is a global problem that defies such neat compartmentalisation.
Humanities and social sciences researchers can help decode the complexities surrounding the adoption of or resistance to climate policies. Philosophers can address the moral dimensions of climate actions, while artists can bring climate change issues to life through stories and performances. Including area studies such as European, South Asian and East Asian studies can help us conceptualise decarbonisation and climate neutrality in cultural relativist contexts. Integrating these with STEM perspectives is a necessity.
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Decarbonising knowledge production
From international academic events requiring flights to heavy energy-consuming labs, academia’s carbon footprint cannot be ignored. To reduce our carbon footprints, we need to rethink what and how we study, teach, publish and disseminate.
This, of course, would require structural changes, and the priority should be to make interdisciplinarity the norm rather than the exception. Institutions must move beyond rhetoric to embed collaborative features into the governance structure, funding, teaching, research and incentive systems. Some practical steps could include joint appointments across faculties, mandatory grants for interdisciplinary research and cross-listing curricula across disciplines and faculties.
In terms of international collaborations, institutions must look beyond the competitive ranking demands to ensure equitable collaborations. For example, there is a tendency among universities in the Global South to only collaborate with top-500 ranked universities. These are situated within the Global North, and therefore partnerships are skewed, and the universities that bear the brunt of many of the climate challenges do not even make it to these international rankings and therefore remain isolated. To change this, universities must embrace a more inclusive internationalisation strategy that includes partner universities across the world, irrespective of their performance in the rankings.
University leadership must outline a clear vision for net zero that spans all faculties and not just the environmental sciences departments. An interdisciplinary mindset must be modelled into university vision and mission statements, supporting cross-disciplinary activities and fostering more collaboration than competition.
A desire to place high in global rankings has long incentivised siloed knowledge production, but the climate crisis demands a massive shift in metrics – from fostering competition to collaborative resilience. Higher education needs a new paradigm that ensures that universities’ performance is not measured by the volume of publications or their ability to attract research grants, but by their contribution to a just and inclusive transition.
To get there, we need to decarbonise knowledge production in both form and function. We need to include Indigenous knowledge systems, lived experiences and community-based insights along with interdisciplinary collaboration to foster change.
Priya Vijaykumar Poojary is a lecturer of European studies at Manipal Institute of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (MISHA).
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