The 17th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (ICMPC17, Tokyo, August 24-28, 2023) is primarily intended for physical participants. Virtual participation is possible but not encouraged. That will effectively screen out most international colleagues in relevant academic disciplines – especially those in the Global South. At the same time, it will encourage others to emit large amounts of CO2.

We, the signatories to this petition who depend on the ICMPC to disseminate our research findings, respectfully ask the organizers of ICMPC17, under the leadership of Dr Masanobu Miura, to offer a modern hybrid conference that takes advantage of the latest technological developments, making the following changes to conference planning:

1. Ensure that any expert in music perception and cognition, regardless of geographic location or financial means, can participate actively if their abstract submission is accepted.
2. Limit carbon emissions by asking colleagues who are based outside East Asia to consider taking part virtually.
3. Offer an attractive, well-developed hybrid program that ensures a satisfying conference experience for remote participants. Include promising opportunities for formal and informal personal communication with other physical and virtual participants.
4. Announce these changes before the paper/poster abstract submission deadline, which is currently January 15, 2023.

The following text explains the petition, but is not part of it.

Organisation ideas

The above goals can be achieved in different ways. Here are some ideas:

• Charge much less than the regular registration fee for virtual participation (say, 20%). Allow colleagues from the Global South to participate for free.
• Program two 4-hour blocks per day, separated by a siesta. Morning: 8-12 in Tokyo, 16-20 in LA. Evening: 16-20 in Tokyo, 9-13 in Paris.
• Live stream the whole conference, with opportunities for all participants to interact and ask questions. Make all streams available later as videos.
• Present live and virtual talks in parallel with equal status.
• For both, use standard lecture room equipment (including loudspeakers) plus a regular laptop with internal microphone and camera. Wireless microphones for the audience are an optional extra. Good ones are expensive, but can be borrowed.
• Depending on internet speed, virtual presentations may be either live or pre-recorded.
• Schedule informal meetings for specific groups of live and virtual participants, planned in advance (global coffee breaks).

The global problem

The daily news is increasingly dominated by the catastrophic consequences of human carbon emissions (for current details, search for “climate change” and any one of “heatwave”, “fire”, “flood”, “famine”, or “drought”). A statistical increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather was confirmed two decades ago (Meehl et al., 2000); today, extreme weather is breaking records. Increasingly, causality can be demonstrated for specific weather events (Perkins-Kirkpatrick, et al., 2022). The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted these developments decades ago and was effectively ignored. The IPCC is now predicting a steady worsening in coming decades as global mean surface temperature continues to rise (Pielke et al., 2022). Every fraction of a degree of global temperature rise will increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. 

Global warming is exacerbating existing death rates from direct heat, hunger, disease, violence, migration, and conflict (Oxfam). Estimates of the current global death rate due to global warming vary from 250,000 per year from 2030 to 2050 (World Health Organisation) to 5 million per year (Zhao et al., 2021). Future developments will depend on how quickly global emissions can be reduced. Meanwhile, we are witnessing a sixth global mass extinction event (Ceballos & Ehrlich, 2018) and a long-term global downward economic spiral (Gowdy, 2020; Keen, 2021) that was predicted long ago (Meadows et al., 1972). The warnings continue to be ignored.

The UN has been trying to reduce global emissions for three decades. Instead, there has been a steady increase – largely due to the activities of climate deniers and the fossil-fuel industries that support them (Oreskes & Conway, 2011), or merely a stubborn refusal to take the problem seriously. The only significant reductions in global emissions followed the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 covid outbreak (Wang et al., 2021). 

The role of aviation

About 73% of effective global emissions are currently from the energy sector (Ritchie, 2020), which includes industry (24%), transport (16%), and buildings (17%). Aviation is contributing 2.5% to global CO2 and 5% to global warming, the difference being due to other greenhouse emissions. 

Aviation is a special case, because it is elitist. Only 2% to 4% of global population flies in a given year and just 1% of world population emits 50% of CO2 from commercial aviation (Gössling & Humpe, 2020). If everyone in the world flew, aviation might contribute half of global emissions.

In recent years, global air traffic (in passenger-kilometers) has increased faster (approx. 5%/year; Fleming & Ziegler, 2013; Lee et al., 2021) than the energy efficiency of aircraft (2%/year: Kharina et al. 2016). Electric planes and sustainable aviation fuels will make little difference to that trend in the next decade, although research in both areas must be promoted for the longer term. The aviation industry’s published plans to globally reduce emissions, including the CORSIA offsetting scheme, are implausible (InfluenceMap, 2022). Public information on aviation is dominated by greenwashing (Stay Grounded). 

An academic colleague who flies from North America or Europe to Japan and back in economy class effectively burns a tonne of fossil carbon, producing roughly four tonnes of CO2. (Accurate estimates of equivalent carbon emissions for specific routes can be checked here.) Given that the vast majority of people in the world cannot afford to fly, behavior of that kind is reminiscent of colonialism (Nevis et al., 2022) and can even be linked to racism (Williams, 2021). 

Global solutions

To limit warming to 1.5°C (if that is still possible), global emissions must be halved by 2030. That means the biggest global carbon-burning industries and governments must be radically reformed. At the same time, people with relatively high carbon footprints must reduce them. 

We no longer have time to prioritize one strategy over another, or to wait for others to reduce their emissions first. The problem will only be solved if emissions of all kinds are reduced, at all levels. We must unilaterally reduce our emissions within our field of influence, and on that basis argue that others must reduce (Lépissier & Mildenberger, 2021). 

To halve global emissions, we have to halve emissions in all sectors, including the elitist aviation sector. We therefore have no choice but to fly less (Planès et al., 2021).

Ethical issues

Most researchers in music perception and cognition are privileged relative to the global average. We have a moral obligation to represent the interests of the less privileged. That includes young people and future generations — those whose lives are currently being destroyed by greenhouse gas emissions.  

Kant (1785) argued that we should “act only according to that maxim whereby we can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law" (categorical imperative). Put simply, we should be the change we want to see. That is in the best interests of everyone, because global warming will affect everyone. It is also in the best interests of the academic discipline of music perception and cognition, which will suffer as a result of global warming in the same way as every other academic discipline.

We are obliged by existing ethical codes in relevant disciplines (e.g., the APA ethics code in psychology) to ensure that our research does not harm humans, non-human animals, or the natural environment – especially if promising non-harmful alternatives are available. That clearly implies an end to conferences that necessitate or encourage flying. If the APA is in denial about that (cf. Schlanger, 2019), it is up to us to lead the way.

Some people are better placed to lead the sustainability transition than others. Likely leaders include those who understand the problem in its interdisciplinary complexity and those who have the financial means to make a difference (Rakete, 2021). Researchers with secure academic positions therefore have a special obligation.

Inclusion issues

The traditional single-location international academic conference is elitist. Participation is limited to those who can afford the high cost of registration, travel, and accommodation. Participation is also limited to those who are physically mobile and free from caring responsibilities. Such conferences are traditionally dominated by white men.

Online events are more inclusive. They can include anyone regardless of financial possibilities. They can include anyone for whom long-distance travel poses a problem, including those with caring responsibilities, disabilities or relevant medical conditions, or high covid risk. They are more reliable, aviation having become unreliable since covid, with frequent cancelations and delays. 

But online events are less motivating than traditional conferences due to lack of face-to-face contact. The problem can be solved in part by a hybrid event, but hybrid events still encourage flying to a single central location. A possible strategy is to announce that the conference is primarily intended for two groups of colleagues: physical participants from the local region and virtual participants from anywhere. The organizers can also encourage participants to avoid flying, while not restricting their freedom to fly. (An even better solution is a multi-hub event, with hubs on different continents, but it is too late to organize that for ICMPC17.)

The new situation can be seen as an academic opportunity. By taking advantage of emerging technologies, we can fly less while at the same time aspiring to the highest academic standards (Kreil, 2021).  We can simultaneously make our conferences more inclusive and more sustainable (Parncutt et al., 2019, 2021; Parncutt & Seither-Preisler, 2019). We can promote interdisciplinary outreach by showing colleagues in other disciplines how best to reform their conference traditions. 

Democracy issues

This proposal is democratic in the following ways:

• The ICMPC Executive Committee is currently equally split 3:3 between those who favor climate action and those who do not. But the organizer of ICMPC17 is himself currently a member of the EC. If he is omitted from voting due to his conflict of interest, the EC is 3:2 in favor of climate action.
• Surveys on conference formats held at the end of ICMPC15 in 2018 and ICMPC16 in 2021 suggested that a majority of colleagues in music perception and cognition are in favor of conference formats that are both more sustainable and more inclusive that the traditional single-location model.
• The planned format of ICMPC17 in 2023 contradicts ESCOM climate policy (see ESCOM homepage), ESCOM being one of three main societies participating in ICMPC.
• This proposal promotes the interests of a majority of international experts in music perception and cognition, including those who will not participate in ICMPC17, either because they cannot afford the combination of registration, travel, and accommodation, or because they prefer not to fly for environmental reasons.
• This proposal promotes the interests of younger colleagues, who will be affected more than older people by global warming. Senior colleagues may not be fairly representing the views of junior colleagues on this point, and junior colleagues may be hesitant to voice their opinion for fear of career consequences.
• This proposal is consistent with relevant recent work on decolonization and cross-cultural research, both within and outside our discipline (Adams et al., 2015; Baker et al., 2020; Chávez & Skelchy, 2019; Crumley-Effinger & Torres-Olave, 2021; Jacoby et al., 2020; Savage et al., in press). 

Taken together, the above points suggest that a majority of international colleagues in music perception and cognition will agree with the general direction of this statement. If so, both the conference organizers and the entire discipline will benefit from adjusting the conference format in the recommended ways. 

Acknowledgments

I thank for helpful comments on previous drafts of this and related texts.

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