Take the green seat
In order to achieve the climate targets of the Paris Agreement, we all need to take responsibility and emit less CO₂. The latest climate report of IPCC, released in February 2022, made this very clear to us again. UM wants to contribute by flying less for business trips, making more use of remote working and meeting options and travelling by train.
From the COVID-19 crisis we have learned that travelling for UM is not always necessary. Meeting online should be considered first and if travel is indispensable, the train is often a better choice. With the campaign ‘Take the green seat’ we strongly encourage our staff to consider green options when travelling for UM.
Flying less is better for our climate. Therefore, we ask our staff to make more use of remote meeting options. This also provides a lot of advantages. Our staff will save a lot of travel time and this contributes to a better work-life balance. If they have to travel for business within 8 to 13 hours of train travel distance from Maastricht, then they should consider taking the train. This will save a lot of CO₂ emissions. Flying from Maastricht to London emits 252 kg CO₂. When you take the same trip by train, the CO₂ emissions are 24kg*! That's a save of 90%! (*see the interactive travel check below on this page)
For staff: you can find all the necessary information by visiting the following intranet page. You are also welcome to join the discussion.
Need more information about UM's flying policy for business trips?
Contact Sustainable UM2030
Travel guidelines at UM
UM has very good international relations that we want to uphold. However, this complex issue takes us to the point where we have to reconsider how we can fly less.
When travelling for UM we advise our staff to take the following steps:
1. First consider if the meeting or appointment can be done online. There are a lot of possibilities available at UM.
2. Is your train travel distance within 8 hours? We strongly encourage you to take the train.
3. Is your plane trip really necessary?
4. Offset your flight by paying a Greening Contribution to the UM Mitigation Fund. This Greening Contribution will be spent on sustainable causes. All contributors to this fund will have a say in the choice of these causes.
Interactive train travel check
We have developed an interactive train travel check to help simplify decision making. Here, you can see the direct carbon impact of your trip, the travel distance and possible train destinations within 8 to 13 hours of reach from Maastricht. It's easy to go through the map and compare the different options. Do the check before you travel and take the green seat!
Click here to open the interactive train travel check.
Calculate the CO₂ emissions of your trip
Do you want to calculate the direct CO₂ impact of your trip yourself? The following tools are easy to use. Just fill in the required information and the calculations are done on the spot!
- For train travel use the CO₂ calculator of ecopassenger.org.
- For trips by plane, we advise you to use the calculator of atmosfair.de.