The Domestic and International Student Relocation Travel Emissions Calculator Tool

The "Domestic and International Student Relocation Travel Emissions Calculator Tool" provides UK FHE institutions with a user-friendly, prepopulated framework for reporting scope 3 domestic and international student travel at the start and end of the academic year. 

Developed by the University of Aberdeen (Estrid Jonsson – Travel Emissions Intern, University of Aberdeen Net Zero Research; Roederer Rose Lyne – University of Aberdeen Net Zero & Emissions Manager), and in collaboration with EAUC Scotland to open the tool up to the UK FHE sector, the tool helps institutions fulfil the principles of emissions reporting under the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, aligns with the sector’s Standardised Carbon Emissions Framework, and, for Scottish institutions, will help the sector meet the expectations set out in the latest public sector bodies guidance from Scottish Government.

Domestic and international student relocation travel emissions form a significant proportion of institutional emissions: for example, within 2021/22 Public Bodies Climate Change Duties (PBCCD) reporting, these emissions accounted for approximately 20% of total reported emissions for the few institutions currently reporting their student relocation emissions. However, domestic and international student relocation travel emissions are often not reported by the sector; this is largely due to the internal capacity needed to create an internal methodology for calculation. The tool and user guide presented here helps address this critical capacity challenge. 

Key features of the tool:

• Underpinned by research reviewing the impacts of different methodology assumptions on total reported emissions (see attached)
• Allows for multiple levels of data and assumption granularity based on available student survey data (example survey included in the User Guide)
• Historical UK GHG conversion factors included to allow for backdating emissions data to 2015/16
• Provides data on total emissions for international and domestic student relocation travel and granular detail by home region and country
• EAUC will update the tool annually with the latest conversion factors.

The downloadable tool resources include:

1. Calculator tool
2. Calculator tool demo
3. User guide
4. Research paper on methodology development 

If you have any technical queries regarding the tool, please contact Rose Lyne at the University of Aberdeen and EAUC Scotland.