Read the full Environmental Sustainability Strategy (PDF, 4.7MB).
Our sustainability strategy
Our Sustainable Future, the University's Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2023-28, outlines how we will reduce our carbon footprint, promote sustainability in our teaching and learning, research and innovation, and reduce our negative environmental operational impact.
We have illustrated practical steps we will take to protect and enhance our environment. We will report on every stage of the process and remain transparent.
Strategy highlights
Our Sustainable Future is organised around the University's three core goals.
Social responsibility
As the first University to set social responsibility as one of its core goals, 51¸£ÀûÉç is unique in its commitment to making a difference to the social and economic wellbeing of our communities.
Download the full (PDF, 4.38MB).
Teaching and learning
We ensure that through interdisciplinary and research-led teaching, our students are invited to learn about the UN’s Sustainable Developments Goals with their programmes of study so they can better understand the challenges our world is facing and how they can help.
Read more about our
Research and discovery
Guided by our Sustainable Futures platform, our research aims to address the major environmental challenges we face in the 21st century and beyond. We prioritise research that has a positive impact on society.
Read more about our .
Find out more about the platform.
Our carbon commitments
Our university is committed to reducing its carbon emissions through two primary goals:
| Target | Baseline | Scope | What does this include? |
| Zero direct carbon emissions by 2038 | The University commits to a 13% annual reduction from a 2018 baseline, aligned with milestones set by the 51¸£ÀûÉç Climate Change Partnership (MCCP), to remain within its 'carbon budget'. | Scope 1 and 2 | Emissions from the energy we buy and use on campus. This includes electricity, oil, gas, and renewable sources. |
| Net zero by 2050 | 2018/19 | Scope 3 |
Indirect emission such as:
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Zero carbon ambition (Scope 1 and 2)
Climate change is the great threat facing humanity. The 2015 Paris Agreement outlined the need for urgent reductions to global carbon emissions to keep the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius or lower.
Our University aims to achieve zero direct carbon emissions by 2038.
Read the full (Word Doc, 227KB).
Read the report (Word Doc, 424KB).
Our carbon budget* was set by climate scientists at the University’s .
*A 'carbon budget’ refers to the emissions an individual or organisation can emit into the atmosphere before contributing more than their ‘fair share’ of the total we can emit globally if we are to stay within 1.5 degrees.
- Providing staff with training to educate on causes and impact of climate change and how they can mitigate against it.
- Entering into Power Purchase Agreements to generate additional zero carbon electricity to match our own consumption.
- Summary of (Word Doc, 145KB).
Further commitments can be found in the full strategy.
Scope 3 emissions
The 2038 target and carbon budget relate to our "Scope 1" and "Scope 2" emissions, primarily from gas and electricity usage, as defined by the .
Scope 1 and 2 emissions constitute around 10% of our carbon footprint. The remaining 90% comes from indirect emissions, like those from goods purchased and staff and student travel, known as "Scope 3 emissions.“
To address the scale and importance of these emissions, in July 2023, we set a Scope 3 emissions target of net zero by 2050.
Details of this plan can be found in our (PDF, 1.13MB).
| Total Scope 3 emissions (tCO2e) | ||
| 2018/2019 (baseline) | 390,672 | Read the full (PDF, 1.13MB) |
| 2022/2023 | 459,142 | Read the full (PDF, 1.64MB) |
| 2023/2024 | 617,090 ​ | Read the full (PDF, 2.8MB) |
The scope of the footprint has been increased in line with carbon accounting best practice. With the newly included emission sources, the overall emissions value has increased compared to both the baseline and the previous year, with the baseline value being exceeded by 58%. There are some large increases in emissions for individual categories too, including a nearly 3-fold increase for upstream leased assets. Areas of significant progress are:
- Waste – the University produces less than a quarter of the waste it did in 2018/19.
- Upstream transportation and distribution – the University spends 35% less of shipping and freight services than it did in 2018/19.
- Capital goods – the University spent less than one-tenth the amount on capital goods in 2023/24 as it did in the baseline.
In the like-for-like comparison we see a 1% decrease in overall emissions compared to the previous year. However, when the like-for-like emissions are compared to the baseline year, an increase of 16% is seen. This is largely driven by an increase in emissions from purchased goods and services. The emission sources that were calculated for the first time in this iteration of the footprint but excluded from this like-for-like analysis are:
- Energy use in 19 upstream leased assets (6,925 tCO2e).
- Student placement travel (6,769 tCO2e).
- Use of sold products (10 tCO2e).
- Energy use in 23 downstream leased assets (5,555 tCO2e).
- Emissions associated with the Greater 51¸£ÀûÉç Pension Fund and Universities Superannuation Scheme (16,200 tCO2e and 130,000 tCO2e, respectively) have been included for the first time this year. The resulting emissions of the category were more than five times greater than if the additional funds had not been included. As a result of the increased scope, the total emissions are 36% greater than they otherwise would have been.
The scope of included emissions was increased for this iteration of the footprint in order to better align with the guidance of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) and the carbon accounting practices of other universities.
| Category | Sources of emissions | 2018/19 emissions | 2022/23 emissions | 2023/24 emissions | Change since 2018/19 | Change since 2022/23 |
| 1 | Purchased goods and services | 171,213 | 203,036 | 192,794​ | 13% | -5% |
| 2 | Capital goods | 40,654 | 13,634 | 29,174​&²Ô²ú²õ±è; | -28% | 114% |
| 3 | Fuel- and energy-related activities | 10,215 | 11,588 | 13,251 | 30% | 14% |
| 4 | Upstream transport and distribution | 652 | 698 | 227 | -65% | -68% |
| 5 | Waste generated during operations | 831 | 227 | 163 | -80% | -28% |
| 6 | Business travel | 19,042 | 12,945 | 14,531 | -24% | 12% |
| 7 | Employee commuting | 3,639 | 8,880 | 7,181​ | 97% | -19% |
| 8 | Upstream leased assets | 4,160​ | 2,452 | 9,463 | 127% | 286% |
| 9 | Downstream transport and distribution | 97,461 | 169,722 | 105,636​ | 8% | -38% |
| 11 | Use of sold products | - | - | 10 | - | - |
| 12 | End of life of sold products | 6 | 2 | 4 | -40% | 108% |
| 14 | Downstream leased assets | 1,163​ | 2,588 | 10,730 | 823% | 315% |
| 15 | Investments | 41,247 | 33,371 | 233,927​&²Ô²ú²õ±è; | 467% | 601% |
| Total | 390,283 | 459,142 | 617,090​&²Ô²ú²õ±è; | 58% | 34% |
We undertake regular environmental audits of our operations and processes.
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- (Revised May 2020) (Word Doc, 874KB). The University will end investments in fossil fuel reserve and extraction companies by 2022, and 'decarbonise' all investments by 2038.
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- Environmental information for UK higher education providers is collected as part of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Estates management record and published on the in a series of tables for several academic years. Source data from any of the tables can be downloaded. 
Sustainable Development Goals
As one of the world’s leading research institutions and the UK’s only university to have social responsibility as a core goal, 51¸£ÀûÉç is playing a leading role in tackling the Sustainable Development Goals in four ways – through our research, learning and students, public engagement activities and responsible campus operations.
Find out how we contribute to the UN's .