Comparative peripheries and decarbonising the uneven geographies of academia

Abstract International travel is a key source of academic greenhouse gas emissions and, therefore, is a priority for the sector's decarbonisation efforts. However, legacies of colonisation and carbon‐intensive development mean that the global geography of knowledge production and exchange is highly concentrated in Europe and North America, notwithstanding increased access through decarbonisation initiatives such as conference hubs. This commentary draws on attendee experiences of two remote conference hubs, held in Nairobi, Kenya and Melbourne, Australia, in parallel with the hybrid 2023 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) (RGS‐IBG) conference, for which the in‐person event was held in London. The varied experiences of these Nairobi and Melbourne RGS hubs highlight the plurality of peripheries, and how one's location within a continuum of peripheralisation shapes how academics from these sites are engaged in and can respond to academic decarbonisation efforts. We argue that the reproduction of Europe and North America as the centres of knowledge necessitates increased cognisance of the potentially conflicted aims of inclusion and the decarbonisation of academia, especially on academic peripheries. Ultimately, our argument is not against the decarbonisation of academia, which we view as critical against climate breakdown, but, rather, for greater attention to the decentring of knowledge production and its methods of transfer in decarbonisation efforts.