News: We are open for contributions (both talks and poster presentations). Please submit your abstract via the conference abstract submission form as soon as possible.

Astronomy provides society with a unique perspective of both our place in the Universe and the fragility of our planet. In the face of increasing global temperatures and environmental degradation there is a pressing need for astronomers to realise the role that they can play in communicating the uniqueness of planet Earth and ensuring a sustainable future.

At this year's EAS conference, we are building upon the momentum created last year for a sustainable future of (European) astronomy and get ready for concrete climate action: having established the main sources of CO_2 emissions in our field (air travel and electricity for supercomputing and the operation of big telescopes), the next step is to get everyone on board and define a realistic plan that is commensurate with the immense carbon emission reductions that are required in the next ten years.

Our special session on Thursday, 1 July, is structured as follows:

• Today: reports about detailed carbon budgets, emission reduction strategies of existing facilities and institutes; best practices and lessons learned from online conferences
• Tomorrow: a plan to decarbonise European astronomy; sustainability built into the designs for future institutes and telescopes
• Together: climate communication from an astronomical perspective

Programme

Invited speakers

• Clarisse Aujoux (Sorbonne Université, Paris)
• Lewis Ball (SKAO)
• Olivier Berné(IRAP, Toulouse)
• Hannah Dalgleish(University of Oxford)
• Debra Fisher(Yale University)
• Sara Lucatello(INAF, Padova)
• Michael Mann(Penn State)
• Vanessa Moss(CSIRO)
• Kimberley Nicholas(Lund University)
• Matthias Steinmetz(AIP Potsdam)
• Andy Williams(ESO)

Scientific organisers

Leo Burtscher (co-chair), Hannah Dalgleish (co-chair), Tobias Beuchert, Faustine Cantalloube, Victoria Grinberg, Natasha Hurley-Walker, Mathieu Isidro, Knud Jahnke, Michelle Willebrands

Contact

In case of questions, please contact the EAS sustainability working group at sustainability-eas @ unige.ch.