The air travel carbon footprint of four recent global oral health meetings – Should we fly less?

Introduction

There is an ethical and moral obligation to balance the collegial benefits of oral health professional meetings and the environmental impacts of these meetings.

Methods

The air travel carbon footprint and distance travelled by attendees of four global oral health meetings in 2023 and 2024 was estimated from publicly available data. The four meetings were the FDI congresses in Sydney in 2023 and Istanbul in 2024; and the IADR general sessions in Bogota in 2023 and New Orleans in 2024. Online calculators were used to estimate these in metric tons of carbon dioxide (Mt CO2e) and kilometres (km).

Results

. The total Mt CO2e of the four meetings was about 47,000, which is equivalent to the annual footprint of about 10,000 people. The distance travelled was about 325 million km, equating to about 425 return trips to the moon. Both Mt CO2e and distance travelled differed across the four meetings, with the Sydney world dental congress contributing most.

Conclusion

The environmental impact of this limited sample of four global oral health meetings is significant. There is a need to implement strategies to reduce this impact while maintaining the importance of the knowledge exchange and scientific advancements these meetings offer.

Clinical Significance

While the primary focus of the oral health profession is patient care, and the direct clinical implications of this study may not be evident, understanding and addressing the environmental impact associated with our professional activities, such as attending global oral health meetings, can lead to more sustainable practices within the profession. The oral health industry contributes to climate change through its carbon footprint from energy use, travel, and waste production. By adopting environmentally conscious practices, oral health professionals can help mitigate these impacts, thereby promoting overall planetary and human well-being and health.