UC Berkeley Business Air Travel Carbon Mitigation Program

Business Air Travel Carbon Mitigation Program

Content Overview

About 

UC Berkeley’s Business Air Travel Carbon Mitigation Program mitigates the high environmental impacts of our business air travel by investing in campus programs that reduce the campus carbon footprint!

Air travel represents the second largest source of carbon emissions on campus! In a typical year, the UC Berkeley community takes more than 32,000 trips, traveling over 100 million miles on business, emitting 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide! Although faculty, staff, and students are seeking opportunities to lessen the emissions associated with their business air travel, air travel continues to be an important part of academia.

By assigning a small fee to UC Berkeley business air travel trips taken ($10 per domestic trip and $25 per offshore/international trip) the program invests in innovative and necessary campus projects that save the campus money and reduce its carbon footprint. The program also includes efforts to help UC Berkeley reduce the need for, or find more sustainable alternatives to, air travel. 

The UC Berkeley Office of Sustainability sponsors and manages this program. The design of this program has been done in consultation with the Travel Office, IT, financial groups and more. Stakeholder engagement and feedback has included the Chancellor’s Cabinet, Academic Deans, Academic Senate committee CAPRA, and Chief Administrative Officers. The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability formally endorsed the program.

Questions can be directed to: sustainability@berkeley.edu

How it works 

The Business Air Carbon Travel Mitigation Program is designed so UC Berkeley business travelers can continue to book flights with no changes to the booking or reimbursement process. 

The Business Air Travel Mitigation Program assigns a small fee to UC Berkeley business air travel trips taken ($10 per domestic round trip and $25 per offshore/international round trip). 

  • The fee is only assessed to eligible air travel trips that are funded by UC- managed dollars. 

  • A trip may represent a number of legs/stops, but the fee is only assessed once for a trip.

  • The fees correspond roughly with the cost of carbon in the current California Cap & Trade program and with the average emissions of a domestic and international Berkeley air trip. To keep pace with the rising cost of carbon, following year 3 of the program, the fees will be raised to $11 and $26. The fees will increase periodically thereafter. 

How the fee is assessed

All campus units: The carbon mitigation fee is assessed to trips booked with unrestricted funds via the travel report system. This assessment began in October 2022. Upon submission of the travel report (via the Travel Office reporting system) for air travel trips booked with unrestricted funds, the fee ($10 for domestic trips, $25 for offshore/international trips) is assessed. The fee corresponds to the chartstring used for booking the air travel. 

Opt in units: Campus departments can opt into covering the costs of the carbon mitigation fee for trips that are booked with restricted funds. Fees associated with air trips booked with restricted funds are assessed once annually to opt-in units. The assessment occurs at the end of each calendar year, based on the previous year’s air trips.  A special thank you to the 23 units who have opted to pay the fee for all flights.

We still welcome additional departments to join by opting into paying the fee for trips booked with restricted funds. Departments that are not listed among the opt in units yet, but are interested in participating in the UC Berkeley Business Air Travel Carbon Mitigation for both restricted and unrestricted funds, should contact the Office of Sustainability for more information.

Questions can be directed to sustainability@berkeley.edu

Funded Projects 

Fees collected from the UC Berkeley Air Travel Carbon Mitigation Program are invested for innovative and necessary campus projects. Projects are selected for their carbon and energy conservation benefits, their contributions to improved collaboration and inclusion in campus sustainability, and other criteria. The Office of Sustainability manages the fund, selects projects, and tracks projects’ progress.

This program allows UC Berkeley to implement innovative and necessary projects that otherwise have limited funding sources. Some of these projects–particularly those that reduce energy use or the need to travel–will save the campus money.

Examples of Projects: 

  • Retrofitting lab equipment to reduce energy consumption, including replacement of older low-temperature freezers

  • Supporting on-site solar PV and battery storage installations

  • Promoting alternatives to traveling for meetings (e.g. funding video conferencing licenses, equipment for hybrid meetings on campus) 

  • Installing EV charging capabilities and incentivizing electrification of the campus fleet.

  • Other carbon reduction initiatives such as communications for behavioral campaigns 

Projects will be selected based on criteria listed in the Project Scoring Matrix, including carbon savings, equity and collaboration.

Projects are scored based on the following criteria, weighted to prioritize carbon savings.

  • CO2 reduced: Project demonstrates quantitatively and qualitatively verifiable short and long- term GHG reductions of the overall campus footprint

  • Innovation: Project is novel in concept, idea, or process to revolutionize campus decarbonization

  • Engagement: Project includes long-term strategy to maximize awareness of benefits, through specific means/mediums, to a wide-ranging audience

  • Inclusion & Collaboration: Project includes well-defined working structure which includes interdisciplinary stakeholders**

  • Diversity & Equity: Project includes social benefits for a wide population and advances campus diversity and environmental justice**

**In alignment with UC Berkeley’s Strategic Plan, the Campus Sustainability Plan, and the Regents Policy 4400, projects that counter the effects of climate change, foster diversity and sustainability, and promote environmental justice will be prioritized for funding.

Updated July 2023

Featured Funded Projects:

UC Berkeley's Business Air Travel Carbon Mitigation Program marks its first anniversary with a diverse portfolio of exciting projects. Three projects were initiated during the inaugural year, including:

Project 1: ULT Freezer Replacement Incentives to replace ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers that are over 15 years old with energy efficient Energy Star freezers. Round two is open for application now.

Project 2: Sustainable Travel Event at UC Berkeley Campus. The event included a number of travel partners discussing their sustainable practices. Look for the next event in Fall 2024. 

Project 3: Hybrid Meeting Rooms to Reduce the Need for Travel. The initiative involves updating conference rooms with state-of-the-art audiovisual and video conferencing systems, ensuring seamless and efficient hybrid meetings. 

Learn more. 

Communications Toolkit:

View the communications toolkit, containing distribution materials and additional resources.

FAQ:

Read the UC Berkeley Business Air Travel Carbon Mitigation Program FAQ to find answers to common questions about funded projects, fee transactions, partners, and resources & communication.