Replication Data for: Reducing the carbon footprint of academic conferences by online participation - the case of the 2020 virtual ECPR General Conference

This replication dataset allows to investigate what impact the decision to switch an academic conference to an online event has on its carbon footprint. Using the example of the biggest European Political Science conference, the ECPR General Conference, it comprehensively estimates the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the virtual event and the hypothetical case, if the event had taken place physically, including emissions from electricity usage, travel, heating and catering. The carbon footprint of the virtual conference turns out to be at least between 97 and 200 times smaller than it would have been, if the meeting had taken place in person. Hybrid conferences, particularly if those participants from far away join the event online, combined with the promotion of land-bound travel for those attending in person – even if this means longer travel times than flying –, could be a feasible compromise to reduce emissions by up to 70 percent.