UCLA Business-Related Air Travel Carbon Mitigation 2018 – 2020 Pilot Program Graphic source: low carbon champions.org

Air Travel as Part of UC Climate Commitments The University recognizes the challenges of climate change and has made commitments to reduce emissions: Carbon neutrality by 2025 for Scopes 1 & 2 (stationary sources and vehicle fleet) Mobile sources—Scope 3—while not yet included for 2025, there is heavy focus on reducing these emissions How do we continue to pursue our mission while honoring our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? UC Sustainable Practices Policy Procedures state: “The University will pursue strategic programs and data collection to offset greenhouse gas emissions related to business-related campus air travel” Recognizing the UC commitment to reducing or offsetting air travel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, UCLA launched its Air Travel Mitigation Pilot Program on January 1, 2018 The UC Sustainable Practices Policy encourages strategic programs to offset greenhouse gas emissions from business-related campus air travel. This January UCLA launched a three year Air Travel Mitigation Pilot Program, becoming one of the first university campuses in the nation to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions by assessing a carbon mitigation fee for business-related flights.

Why Offset or Mitigate Air Travel Emissions? Air travel by faculty and staff is necessary for the University to pursue and fulfill its mission and has no viable alternative for many trips Air travel GHG emissions are significant, accounting for 5% of the total at UCLA (greater than emissions from its vehicle fleet!) The campus recognized that while air travel by faculty and staff is necessary in pursuit of the university’s mission, and often has no viable alternative, the greenhouse gas emissions from such travel are significant. (2014) Source: Presidio Study/ACUPCC Reporting System

Move to Action Carbon offsets are not preferred for GHG emissions reduction But for air travel, they do make sense

Who at UCLA Is Doing the Flying? Miles flown in 2017 While faculty are but one-sixth of the UCLA workforce, they fly much more per capita than staff As might be expected, faculty do a disproportionate amount of the flying attending and presenting academic papers at conferences and colloquia and collaborating with colleagues at other institutions. However, as faculty account for only 1/6 of the UCLA workforce, the total miles flown is greater for staff.

How Substantial are UCLA’s Business-Related Air Travel GHG Emissions? Miles flown per year GHG MT emitted per year* 2007 Miles Flown: 56,837,237 2017 Miles Flown: 88,846,150 2007 GHG emissions: 19,271 MT 2017 GHG emissions: 30,236 MT UCLA business-related air travel increased by more than 33% over the last decade, reaching over 88 million miles flown in 2017 and accounting for more than 30,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. * Calculation via the Campus Carbon Calculator

Setting Up the Program Framework developed with assistance from Presidio Graduate School MBA team Peer Review Lessons Learned Voluntary Programs garner few offsets Federal contracts and grants cannot be charged for air travel offsets To operationalize, keep it simple To develop recommendations for a pilot program to offset or mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions from business air travel, in 2014, UCLA Transportation worked with staff at the Office of the President and an interested team of graduate students from the Presidio School. In developing the framework for a pilot program, a peer review of other institutions’ air travel offset programs showed that voluntary programs yielded little participation, that federal contract and grant guidelines preclude offset fees for air travel charged to such funds, and that it was best to keep it simple to get such a program launched. .

Process Considerations “Fee Type” options and selection UCLA process for airline ticket purchases & reimbursement How to capture trip information Carbon offset information gathering What kinds are there? What is the fee per metric ton?

Fee Options Considered Fee Type Pros and/or Cons Fee Based on Ticket Price Little relationship to GHGs emitted Fee Based on Miles Flown Difficult to implement and precision does not equal accuracy Flat Fee per Trip Easy to implement; issues of equity Tiered Flat Fee per Trip Easy to implement, addresses equity issues While UCLA looked at options for assessing fees based on various criteria, we ultimately settled on a tiered flat fee per trip as both easy to implement and equitable.

How to Determine Fees Needed: Forecasting UCLA Flight Volume Total Flights Domestic Flights International Flights

Forecasting UCLA Flight Emissions 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Emissions 22,384 23,564 30,236 32,060 33,884 35,708 Miles 70,099,592 75,694,213 88,846,150 95,095,003 101,343,856 107,592,708 Total Flights* 70,370 70,894 78,115 80,697 83,278 85,860 Domestic Flights 61,678 68,043 70,165 72,286 74,408 International Flights 8,692 9,216 10,072 10,532 10,992 11,452 Presidio Team * Not r/t and includes UCLA Athletics

Carbon Pricing Demand Forecasting California Energy Commission Projections: Preliminary 2017 IEPR Carbon Price Projections 1 2017 2018 2019 2020 Carbon Price (Nominal$/metric ton CO2E) Low Price (High Consumption Scenario)2 13.68 14.73 15.88 17.07 Mid Price (Mid Consumption Scenario) 13.44 15.27 17.35 19.71 High Price (Low Consumption Scenario) 13.66 16.00 18.76 21.98 Tier 1 APCR / Proposed post-2020 APCR 46.34 48.69 51.150 53.73 CPI: Urban Consumer - All Items, (Index, 2015) 103.68 106.49 109.42 112.19 CPI Annual Rate of Change 2.46% 2.71% 2.75% 2.53% Presidio Team 1 Integrated Energy Policy Report, CA Energy Commission 2 Price increases in calendar years subsequent to 2016 will be equal to the offer price for each tier from the previous calendar year increased by five percent plus the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.

Fee Adds Nominal Amount to Total Trip Cost # of Flight Itineraries Total Revenue Fee per Itinerary Domestic ~29,000 Domestic ~$261,000 $9 The resultant tiered fees charged per trip itinerary for domestic and international trips will add only nominal amounts to the total trip cost. Charging only non-contract & grant accounts reduces the amount we expect to collect in 2018 to approximately $242,000. International ~5,000 International ~$125,000 $25 ~$386,000 ~34,000 Round Trips Reduce amount by contract & grant-funded travel (~25%) - $96,000 ~ $290,000

UCLA Business Air Travel – How Are Flight Reservations Made? Source of flights flown per year California - $35,000 CONNEXXUS Travel System – No University-wide mandate to use system Most faculty and some staff use other tools to book flights Express – The electronic reimbursement system Domestic $165,000 * The UC Travel Program with portal and negotiated rates for booking flights, hotel rooms, etc. Encouraged to use but not mandatory

Business Air Travel by Destination Percent by Trip Type California - $35,000 Express reimbursement system already splits domestic and international flights Domestic $165,000

How Are Fees Be Collected? (Via “Express”) Since all air travel reimbursements for the UCLA campus go through the Financial Services “Express” system it was determined that the best and easiest method for implementation would be to assess a fee to the traveler’s department at the point of reimbursement. ((Charged to the account being charged for the flight.)) * *To non-contract/grant accounts

Local Or Verified Offsets From Cornell University

How Will the Fund be Utilized and Managed? Local Projects Oversight Sustainability Office to oversee fund Committee will recommend projects based on review of applications Executive Sustainability Committee decides Energy Efficiency Greening Renewable Energy The air travel mitigation pilot program will not entail purchase of verifiable offsets as there was strong feeling on the campus that funds collected should be utilized locally for on-campus projects that provide measurable reductions in GHG emissions, most likely energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. A committee will screen applications at the close of each full year of the three-year pilot program and recommend to the Executive Sustainability Committee which projects to fund.

Timeline Air Travel Offset Feasibility Study Consultation w/Deans & Administrative Departments “Express” System Programming Pilot Initiation Sustainability Committee From initial feasibility to launch took approximately four years, including consultation with campus stakeholders. The program will be evaluated during the final year of the pilot. 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Program Development Pilot Period

Q&A Questions, comments…?