Does low-carbon transition encourage equity principles ?

Nicolas Champollion, Nicolas Gratiot, Pascal Bellemain, Adèle Fabre, Jérémie Klein, Lucie Pellissier

This study investigates researchers’ research practices using the Ma Terre (MTr) serious game, in which participants adopt fictional, but realistic, characters representing research team members. Across eighty five Ma Terre workshops gathering three hundred academics issued from twelve research domains, teams negotiated measures to reduce their carbon footprint by 50%, considering travel research activities. Initial and final greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and the heterogeneity of distribution within teams were quantified using the Gini coefficient (G), to assess whether pathways for low-carbon practices are accompanied with mechanisms of equity. Results show firstly that, within the game, initial inequality does not limit research teams’ capacity to reduce emissions: highly unequal teams, characterised by G values higher than 0.5, achieved GHG emission reductions comparable to more egalitarian teams. Secondly, teams starting with egalitarian norms have widened the range of possible low-carbon trajectories, while high initial inequalities have narrowed them. Thirdly, the occurrence of external and randomly distributed events, such as substantial additional funding, increased participants’ effort and in most cases led to more collaborative behaviour that at the end reduced inequity. After such events, a statistical correlation emerged between carbon reduction and decreases in the final G coefficient. Two limits to the current study will be considered for further perspectives : while the G coefficient effectively summarizes inequality, it does not capture the nature of disparities or differences in individual effort, highlighting the need to complement measures quantifying the level of equity with qualitative dimensions. In addition, the gamified setting primarily reflects intentions and attitudes rather than actual behaviour, influenced by engagement, social norms, and workshop context. To conclude, these findings underscore the need for targeted strategies to promote both environmental sustainability and social equity in university research, particularly by creating opportunities or momentum that motivate to exert stronger effort.
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