EAUC Members lead the way in the Green League

29th May 2012

With the results of this year’s Green League going live today, the EAUC are delighted to see so many of its Members leading the way in the top rankings.

EAUC Members represent 92% of the institutions placed in the 2012 Green League which shows that these institutions are proactively using their Membership to inform and support their work, as well as engaging with our vast community to inspire the sector to continually strive to achieve more collectively. We’d like to offer huge congratulations to all Members for their achievements in 2012 and we’re here for them in the future to see this success build year on year.

EAUC Chief Executive, Iain Patton, notes: “With 27% more universities than last year getting a first in this year’s Green League, the optimists claim improving performance while the cynics say that we are just getting better at chasing league table points. People and Planet should be congratulated for keeping up the pressure but the ball is firmly in the sectors court as tools such as the sustainability improvement mechanism the LiFE Index become established.”

Iain also notes the power that students play in the external publication of key sustainability performance data: “Fee paying students leave our doors and through their lives and work collectively have a social and environmental impact which blasts the sectors own impacts out of the water. We have to be looking much further than the boundaries of the university grounds. With 92% of Green League awarded institutions being EAUC Members, we are standing up collectively to raise our game and look our students in the eye.”

The top of the league was a close call but the University of Greenwich showed their ability to take an innovative approach to engaging the student and staff population by proudly taking the top spot. With an impressive reduction in carbon emissions – 22% since 2005, on track to meet an ambitious target of 40% over 10 years – and a £6m investment are key factors in Greenwich's triumph. Head of Sustainability, Kat Thorne, is an active EAUC Member as co-convenor of the London Universities Environmental Group and a member of the EAUC’s Member Advisory Council which ensures all Member have a voice and it is heard within the association. We’re delighted to see Kat and her team be truly recognised for their hard work.

The biggest improvement comes from the University of Surrey, which moves up 67 places. Surrey has increased the number of staff devoted to sustainability and it earns full points on ethical investment, which is rare. It has a 100% green electricity contract and generates 2% of its own energy from low-carbon sources, including solar panels.

Members of the EAUC can look forward to a number of projects and services that will continue to support them to embed sustainability into their institution and see them topping the League in future years. As a community, we are thriving and the annual focus on leagues such as the Green League continues to make this clear. As the only independent not-for-profit Member-led body of our kind in the UK, the EAUC exists to support Members in delivering improved environmental, social and economic performance.

Our Members clearly rate the Green League in terms of raising the sustainability agenda and this is important to recognise. EAUC Membership offers these institutions the support, guidance and frameworks needed where this does not exist elsewhere. We hope that institutions that were disappointed by their ranking in 2012, get the internal support to be able to make a real commitment to making tangible improvements via our own online performance management and improvement system: Learning in Future Environments (LiFE).

LiFE has been created to help Universities and Colleges manage and demonstrate their social responsibility and sustainability activities. Just as your students and staff are individuals, we understand that each Institution is unique; LiFE has been carefully designed with this in mind. Whatever your approach to sustainability and social responsibility, the system will celebrate and enhance it, rather than compromise or prescribe.

View the full results for 2012 here
View the People and Planet Green League methodology here