Green Gown Awards 2021: 2030 Climate Action - University of Exeter - Finalist

Environment and Climate Emergency Roadmap to net zero and beyond

In May 2019 the University declared an Environment and Climate Emergency (E&CE) to support staff and student calls for greater action. Since our declaration, the climate agenda has progressed at speed, with a new carbon roadmap setting out our plans for achieving net zero (across all carbon scopes) by 2050 at the very latest. This ambitious plan takes into account the need for sector collaboration in achieving our climate goals, but also goes beyond carbon, focusing on environmental net gain across our grounds, region and the globe. We have already built the foundations with a growing bespoke E&CE Team, Board, and policy in place to guide our agenda.

We encourage our entire student and staff community get involved, via attending thematic forums to deliver carbon reduction projects, engaging with our online Green Rewards Platform to win prizes for their sustainable actions, or by taking part in the new Societies Sustainability Alliance, to have a tangible impact on our Net Zero journey.

Top 3 learnings:

• It is not all about carbon - although we endeavour to become net zero by 2050 at the latest, we must consider other factors such as biodiversity, health and wellbeing, and embedding the SDGs.
• Providing opportunities for student and staff engagement in our climate agenda has been key in progressing our plans, as everyone has the platform to own the changes they want to see happen.
• Transparency and accountability are key. By sharing our roadmap plans to net zero we hope that institutions will do the same and collaborate to achieve our net zero goals as a sector.

Videos

• Video #1 (click to hide)