Abstract
This paper aims to investigate carbon footprints of faculty members of University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) associated with income and education in pursuance of a low-carbon society. For the study, 140 UAF faculty members (professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and lecturers) were selected using stratified random sampling technique, and a representative questionnaire was used to record primary data. Moreover, the ordinary least square (OLS) method was used to explain the statistical relationship between income, education, and carbon footprints. It was found that carbon footprints of UAF faculty members were 10.06 metric tons (mt) per year per person on an average. Our results further indicated that carbon footprints of assistant professors, associate professors, and professors were 10.83, 11.95, and 10.96 mt per person per annum, respectively. OLS estimates showed that an increase in one Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) faculty member increases the carbon footprint by 1.15 mt per annum. Male faculty members emit more carbon footprints than females. Faculty members of Tenure Track System (TTS) had a higher income than those of Basic Pay Scale (BPS). Therefore, emissions of TTS faculty members were higher. Hence, in order to reduce carbon footprints and corroborate UAF campus environment-friendly, the attitude towards this aspect should be changed and awareness should be created. Furthermore, reduced car usage can be another bottom-up policy suggestion. As witnessed in green campuses of international universities, UAF should also be a motor-free campus (cycling and pedestrian only).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
M.Phil and M.Sc. (Hons) are two different degree tracks in UAF to complete 18 years of university education.
Engine size is larger than 1000 horsepower.
PKR is a Pakistani currency. 1 USD = 107 PKR as of July, 2017.
References
Adamczyk J, Piwowar A, Dzikuc M (2017) Air pollution programmes in Poland in the context of the low emission. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:16316–16327
Ali G, Nitivattananon V (2012) Exercising multidisciplinary approach to assess interrelationship between energy use, carbon emission and land use change in a metropolitan city of Pakistan. Renew Sust Energ Rev 16:775–786
Aziz JA (2006) Towards establishing air quality guidelines for Pakistan. East Mediterr Health J 12(6):886–893
Baiocchi G, Minx J, Hubacek K (2010) The impact of social factors and consumer behavior on carbon dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom. J Ind Ecol 14:50–72
Bandara JS, Cai Y (2014) The impact of climate change on food crop productivity, food prices and food security in South Asia. Econ Anal Policy 44:451–465
Barrett J, Peters G, Wiedmann T, Scott K, Lenzen M, Roelich K (2013) Consumption-based GHG emission accounting: a UK case study. Clim Pol 13(4):451–470
Brand CA, Goodman H, Rutter Y, Song OD (2013) Associations of individual, household and environmental characteristics with carbon dioxide emissions from motorized passenger travel. Appl Energy 104:158–169
Buchs M, Schnepf SV (2013) UK households’ carbon footprint: a comparison of the association between household characteristics and emissions from home energy, transport and other goods and services. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7204
Chaudhry SM, Kamal S (1997) Introduction to statistical theory. Part II. Ilmi Kitab Khana. Kabir Street, Urdu Bazar Lahore, 54000
Csutora M (2012) One more awareness gap? The behaviour-impact gap problem. J Consum Policy 35(1):145–163
Dombey A (2012) Carbon management plan, cutting our carbon by 50 percent in five years. University of Brighton, United Kingdom
Ferris L, Best J, Scholefield H, Marques J, Sawada B, Nemetz P (2007) Carbon neutrality and University of British Colombia: a first glance. University of British Colombia, Colombia
Filimonau V, Dickinson J, Robbins D, Mark AJ (2011) Reviewing the carbon footprint analysis of hotels: life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) as a holistic method for carbon impact appraisal of tourist accommodation. J Clean Prod 19:1917–1930
Garg S, Dornfeld D (2008) An indigenous application for estimating carbon footprint of academia library based on life cycle assessment. University of California, Berkeley: Laboratory for manufacturing and sustainability
Garon S (2013) Why America spends while the world saves. Princeton University Press. United States, Princeton
Global Footprint Network (2017) Climate change: advancing the science of sustainability. Available on this link http://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/climate-change/. Accessed on December, 2016
Hanif US, Haider S, Rafique A, Malik KA (2010) Economic impact of climate change on the agricultural sector of Punjab. The Pakistan Development Review 49(4 Part II):771–798
Kennedy HE, Krahn H, Naomi T (2015) Are we counting what counts? A closer look at environmental concern, pro-environmental behaviour, and carbon footprint. Local Environ 20(2):220–236
Khattak K (2016) Are there enough opportunities and conducive environment for researchers and scientists to make a real difference? An analysis of higher education in Pakistan. Mapping Higher Education in Pakistan-MIT review. Assessed on February 10, 2016
Lebel L, Garden A, Bantaicla P, Lasco M, Rodel AA, Mitra AP, Sharma C, Nguyen H, Giok O, Agus S (2007) Integrating carbon management into the development strategies of urbanizing regions in Asia. J Ind Ecol 11(2):61–81
Lee DS, Pitari G, Grewe V, Gierens K, Penner JE, Petzold A, Prather MJ (2010) Transport impacts on atmosphere and climate: aviation. Atmos Environ 44:4678–4734
Mallick S, Masood A, (2011) Environment, energy and climate change in Pakistan: challenges, implications and required responses. Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre, Working Paper Series January, 2011
Marques A, Rodrigues J, Lenzen M, Domingos T (2013) International trade and the geographical separation between income and enabled carbon emissions. Ecol Econ 89:162–169
Miehe R, Scheumann R, Jones CM, Kammen MD, Finkbeiner D (2015) Regional carbon footprints of households: a German case study. Environ Dev Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9649-7
Naims H (2016) Economics of carbon dioxide capture and utilization—a supply and demand perspective. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:22226–22241
Nakata T, Silva D, Rodiono M (2011) Application of energy system models for designing a low-carbon society. Prog Energy Combust Sci 37:462–502
Peter GP (2010) Carbon footprints and embodied carbon at multiple scales. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 2:245–250
Pryce T (2014) Reducing footprints and increasing brainprints: the role of UK universities in carbon reduction. Article in Carbon Trust. Online available from June 18, 2014. Assessed on (https://www.carbontrust.com/news/2014/06/reducing-footprints-increasing-brainprints-uk-universities-role-carbon-reduction)
Rehamn S (2015) CoP 21st meeting in Paris and Pakistan. Article published in World Tribune Pakistan. Online available (http://worldtribunepakistan.com/) assessed on 26 Nov., 2015
Reinders AH, Vringer ME, Minx K (2003) The direct and indirect energy requirement of households in the European Union. Energy Policy 31(2):139–153
Schulz BN (2010) Delving into the carbon footprints of Singapore—comparing direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions of a small and open economic system. Energy Policy 38:4848–4855
Sharaai HA, Mokhtar MA, Jin NW, Azali NA (2015) Determining the primary factor contributed to household carbon emission by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Environmental Sciences 30:344–348. International Conference on Environmental Forensics 2015 (iENFORCE2015)
Shaw S, Thoma C (2006) Discussion note: social and cultural dimensions of air travel demand: hyper-mobility in the UK? J Sustain Tour 14(2):209–215
Sheikh AT (2008) Challenge of climate change: Pakistan’s carbon emissions continue to grow at an increasing rate. Article published in Daily Dawn. http://dailydawn.com. Accessed on February 16, 2016
Sovacool BK, Brown M (2010) Twelve metropolitan carbon footprints: a preliminary comparative global assessment. Energy Policy 38:4856–4869
Sprangers S (2011) Calculating the carbon footprint of universities. Master’s Thesis Economics and Informatics, Erasmus School of Economics, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sun Q (2016) Research on the influencing factors of reverse logistics carbon footprint under sustainable development. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-8140-9
Wiedmann T (2009) Carbon footprint and input-output analysis – an introduction. Econ Syst Res 21:175–186
Wiedmann T, Minx J (2007) A definition of carbon footprint. In: C. C. Pertsova. Ecological Economics Research Trends, Chapter 1, pp 1–11
York R, Rosa EA, Dietz T (2003) STIRPAT, IPAT and impact: analytic tools for unpacking the driving forces of environmental impacts. Ecol Econ 46(2):351–365
Zhuang X, Jiang K, Zhao X (2011) Analysis of the carbon footprint and its environmental impact factors for living and travel in Shijiazhuang city. Adv Clim Chang Res 2(3):159–165
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge all those faculty members who contributed and spared their valuable time to complete this work.
Funding
This paper is supported by the PIFI project of CAS (No. 2017PC0074).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ali, G., Anbren, S. & Bashir, M.K. Climate mitigation, low-carbon society, and dynamism of educational institutes in a low-income country. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 3775–3784 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0607-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0607-9