Sustainability

University climate action: seeking your views

Help make the University’s Climate Strategy better by responding to our consultation.

In our 2016 Climate Strategy, the university committed to become net zero by 2040 by eliminating avoidable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestering any unavoidable emissions. We also set out a whole institution approach to climate mitigation and adaptation across our research, learning & teaching, estates and operations, procurement and investments.

Yet as the various environmental crises deepen, we recognise the necessity of a step change in effort and urgency and we plan to update our strategy accordingly in 2024.

University climate action: seeking your views. Image enhanced using Artificial Intelligence (AI), using Adobe Firefly.
What could our sustainable campus look like in the future? Image enhanced using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Original photo: Laurence Winram.

Let's make our Climate Strategy better

To ensure that the University maintains its leadership position, and to realise the benefits of collaborative action, we established four working groups in 2022 to explore a revised approach in each of Operations, Research, Learning and Teaching, and Partnerships.  

Over 80 academic and professional services colleagues from across the University worked together through these groups over seven months to identify potential deliverable actions commensurate to the size of the external challenges. 

We are currently considering three key recommendations from the working groups that will inform a successor for the current Climate Strategy: 

  • Rebalance our focus, from operational carbon reductions to increase the emphasis on the positive impacts of research, partnerships and learning and teaching to reflect the potential for impact in these areas 

  • Widen the focus, strengthening efforts on biodiversity, water scarcity, and chemical pollution, bringing ambitions in line with our approach to climate change, sufficient to address the magnitude of these interrelated crises. 

  • Set science-aligned interim targets, thus ensuring our net zero carbon target takes a science-aligned approach, in support of our existing 2040 goal. 

Respond to our consultation

We are holding a four-week consultation to seek the views of staff and students on our proposed updates.

We are keen to know if you support our direction of travel and what you think our priorities should be across:

  • net zero
  • learning and teaching
  • research and innovation
  • partnerships
  • operations
  • nature and biodiversity
  • water scarcity and chemical pollution
  • our people and culture.

The consultation closed on Monday 18 December 2023 at 12 noon.

At the end of the consultation, you can enter a prize draw for one of ten £50 gift vouchers for Love2shop to thank you for your time. 

The University will collect and analyse responses to this consultation and town hall events (below) in January 2024.

These inputs will be collated into a recommendations report to inform the development and finalisation of the new Climate Strategy in 2024.

Attend a Town Hall event

We will be holding a series of town hall events where you can hear more about our proposed approach, ask questions and share your views. All staff and students are welcome to attend.

  • Monday 20 November, 6pm to 8pm (Potterrow, in collaboration with the Students' Association) - book on Students' Association website

  • Thursday 23 November, 11:30am to 12:30pm (Kings Buildings)  

  • Tuesday 28 November, 11am to 12pm (online) 

  • Wednesday 29 November, 12pm to 1pm (Central)  

  • Monday 4 December, 11am to 12pm (online)  

Book your place [University login required]

More information

Zero by 2040, our 2016 Climate Strategy 

Read "Zero by 2040", our 2016 Climate Strategy

Principal Peter Mathieson: what does sustainability mean to you? (video, 2018)

Climate progress to date

The University has made major progress in delivering a wide range of commitments on climate change, biodiversity and circular economy leading to our QS sustainability rankings of first in Europe and fourth globally. 

Our emissions continue to fall despite strong organisational growth, and we are actively delivering on major commitments such as carbon sequestration via forests and peatlands.

Our 2021/22 carbon emissions

University ranks first in UK for sustainability