Producing knowledge about the climate and the environment comes at a cost ‒ a cost that extends beyond invoices and employment contracts. Scientific activities based at the Fram Centre have an environmental footprint of their own.
Megan Lenss, Vegard Stürzinger, Morven Muilwijk and E Zoe Walker*
Whether from carbon dioxide emissions associated with ship time, consumption of single-use materials in the lab, or direct disturbance of already vulnerable ecosystems, our research affects the very environment we are trying to understand. Our results are clear: sea ice is in rapid decline; ice caps are melting; biodiversity is severely threatened; and the polar regions are warming alarmingly fast.
Today, these facts are no longer shocking. Studying, publishing, and discussing imminent global catastrophe has sadly become business as usual. However, the environmental cost of conducting such research cannot be accepted as a necessary evil. Somewhere between the lines of scientific excellence and geopolitical strategy lies an inherent question: what can be done to align our scientific pursuits with sustainability?
Like many organisations housed at the Fram Centre, the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) is supported by funding from the Norwegian Government. As a governmental organisation, NPI is accountable to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are 17 goals with a holistic and modern approach to sustainability, spanning from fighting inequality to stopping climate change, which were formally adopted by all United Nation member states, including Norway, in 2015. All operations at NPI can be placed within the framework of the SDGs, and, as a governmental institution, NPI has an explicit responsibility to integrate the SDGs into daily operations.
We contend that increased accountability for upholding these goals is necessary, and acting as an organisation, rather than as individuals, offers an opportunity for increased impact. For example, considering the substantial annual expenditure on equipment and services, our consumer power becomes significant. Implementing sustainable purchasing practices would direct these funds towards companies committed to achieving the SDGs and prioritise longer-lasting goods, such as modular technology with easy maintenance and replaceable parts. Sustainable purchasing could also be supported through equipment sharing and an institutional equipment bank. This equipment bank could be supported by a digitally accessible inventory of laboratory materials and field equipment, allowing researchers to quickly obtain supplies in house, and eliminating the constant stream of small shipments to the Fram Centre. A joint stock of consumables could be maintained and replaced as needed, while larger, more expensive pieces of equipment could be purchased collectively. Supply-and-demand meetings could be held bi-annually which, in tandem with collective purchasing, would also enhance inter-sectional cooperation. Such a system would be both cost-saving and efficient, not to mention its positive impacts on several of the SDGs (1, 8, 12-15, 17), underlining the interconnectedness of the goals and extending our impact globally.
Other opportunities for organisation-level change range in both influence and impact. Simple solutions should be considered, such as prioritising vegetarian meal options through an “opt-in for meat” initiative at conferences, events, and field campaigns. Additionally, the organisation should encourage ground travel to professional events and promote digital participation in events that require long-distance flights.
Finally, every research activity with an environmental impact, be it fieldwork or in the lab, should be maximised for scientific outcome. For example, ship time should be well planned and use of available participant space optimised by encouraging more interdisciplinary collaboration, student involvement, and stakeholder engagement. Together, these changes would support six more SDGs (2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 17).
Integrating the SDGs into the operational framework at NPI is only one example of how the SDGs can be applied at the organisational level. Ultimately, they should be integrated into the broader research community across Norway. We believe that the greatest potential for incorporating the SDGs at the system level lies with the funding agencies, including the Research Council of Norway. At present, research proposals are assessed for scientific excellence, impact, societal relevance, and dissemination. We propose the additional consideration of SDG achievement, contending that this could alleviate harmful environmental impacts, especially when projects are equally rated in other aspects but diverge in their support of the SDGs. Potential impact, mitigation steps, and alignment with specific goals could be evaluated in a system similar to a risk assessment, providing a fair tool for funding evaluation. Incorporating sustainability risk assessments into all organisational operations would support a top-down change with meaningful bottom-up action.
At the end of the day, the largest annual output of many research institutions at the Fram Centre is data and information related to climate change and its impacts.
The impact of these data on policies related to sustainable development and environmental protection must be in alignment with the values of the research institution. An opportunity is missed when these organisations do not make internal changes to support those policies. As the Norwegian government has already committed to the SDGs, integrating and implementing them into Norwegian institutions is the next logical step. We strongly encourage all employees and students at the Fram Centre to bring the SDGs to their group meetings, lunch tables, and administrative conversations. It is timely, important, and simply correct to consider research and scientific activities within the framework of the SDGs, and we hope the examples presented here inspire the employees at the Fram Centre to consider their work in a newer, greener light.
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* Authors ML, VS and MM work at the Norwegian Polar Institute. The perspectives presented in this article solely represent the authors’ personal views on sustainability and science. These viewpoints do not constitute or reflect the strategies or positions of NPI.