More than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, travel restrictions still largely cut Hong Kong off from the rest of the world. While it is painful to have to endure quarantine and to see mothballed aircraft line our airport runways, travel restrictions have been important in keeping the virus at bay. Of course, we all yearn to travel again and long for the day when quarantine will be a thing of the past. But if the pandemic has taught us anything, we have hopefully learned a big lesson about the reprioritisation of travel habits. From diplomatic summits to major business events, conferences and meetings across borders, the pandemic has digitally transformed the way we communicate. A silver lining by-product of travel restrictions and lockdowns is that total emissions for the aviation sector were almost 50 per cent below pre-pandemic levels in 2020 and 2021. Our pandemic experience thus has potentially profound implications for how we deal with the looming climate crisis. If the world does not heed the warning of the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or if it barely meets the commitments agreed to at last year’s COP26 meeting in Glasgow, the impact on our daily lives will be just as disruptive as Covid-19, or potentially even more so. Humanity will most likely face a serious existential crisis. We are already seeing the health impacts of the climate crisis: an estimated 7 million people die from air pollution globally each year, with two-thirds of these deaths in Asia. Extreme climate events like heatwaves, worsening storms, drought, wildfires and floods have become more frequent in different parts of the world, endangering our lives and livelihoods, as well as critical infrastructure such as energy and transport systems. For a city like Hong Kong, the impacts of climate change are potentially dramatic. We are feeling this already with hotter days arriving earlier and finishing later in the year, and typhoon warnings coming as late as December. Government data shows the water level of Victoria Harbour has risen at an average rate of 31mm a decade over the past 70 years, an alarming trend for a city surrounded by water. So, what can the world, and more specifically Hong Kong, do about the climate crisis? Climate change is bigger than any one sector. All of us have a role to play, and our universities are no different. While our climate scientists, energy specialists and engineers can inform public policies and help frame the economic architecture of a green economy, universities, as educators of tomorrow’s leaders and carbon emitters in our own right, must exercise our civic responsibilities, starting with our campuses. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, for example, responded to Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050 by being the first university in the city to set a carbon neutral target, and others have now followed suit. Our public universities collectively enrol over 100,000 students, employ more than 30,000 people and have an extensive physical footprint across the city. Two of our universities are members of the International Universities Climate Alliance, a global consortium that includes Oxford, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Yale, Caltech, and Nanjing University. Formed to spearhead global, research-led solutions on climate and to share best practices on how universities can reduce their own carbon footprints, the alliance is a tangible example of how institutions can use research conducted on their own campuses to improve them. Hong Kong must put wind in the sails of its carbon neutrality plan “Think global and act local” can be an empty slogan, unless substantiated by action. Groups like the Hong Kong chapter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, co-hosted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and my university, are leading the way and will be working more closely with businesses, government and the wider community. The climate crisis has no room for silos. Our city’s universities, five of which rank among the world’s top 50, have significant research expertise and are education powerhouses, and we have a real desire to address climate and sustainability on our own campuses, in our city, and around the world. Public policymakers and captains of industry have an open invitation to join the university sector in taking real steps to address climate change. We have all learned the importance of scientific research and evidence-based solutions in our response to the pandemic. Let’s come together now and act before the next crisis descends upon us. Professor Rocky S. Tuan is vice-chancellor and president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong