The target of a reduction of 57% compared to 2018 corresponds to a reduction of 70% compared to 1990. With this goal, SDU thus lives up to the government’s goal of a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 1990.
In 2020, SDU’s greenhouse gas emissions were 6,111 CO2 equivalents, and 6,092 CO2 equivalents in 2021.
This represents a significant decrease compared to the emission of 11,373CO2 equivalents in 2018, which constitutes the baseline for the target of a 57% reduction in emissions by 2030.
However, when reading the climate accounts for 2020 and 2021, one should be aware that these years differ from the other years due to the lockdowns that followed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lockdowns have resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of air travel, which explains a significant portion of the decline in emissions.
If the volume of air travel and other transport activities in 2021 had been in line with the years 2017–2019, the total emissions in 2021 would have been around 9,800 tonnes of CO2 equivalents.