Our key sustainable development strategy is about making difference where it matters, this cut across all the university groups and seeks ways we can rethink, ways we can rethink, inspire and make positive changes to respond to global challenges.
It is an exciting time for the university as we build upon our achievements within our Education, Research, Enterprise, and Innovation and continue to raise our global profile. Underpinning all these activities, our key ‘enablers’ bind together what is most important to us and how we will deliver upon this.
As an institution, we continue to evolve and adapt to pressing global issues, the views of our staff and students, the community, external policy and legislative requirements, as well as innovation and technology that will help us to improve upon sustainable development.
In the UK, the new Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener strategy has been released to coincide with COP26 and commits to a reduction in emissions of at least 68% by 2030 from 1990 levels; setting a legally binding commitment to reduce emissions by 78%
by 2035 from 1990 levels. Meanwhile, the UK’s Clean Growth strategy focuses on technological and economic advancement through ‘clean growth’. The strategy aims to cut national carbon emissions, create new jobs and protect the environment. Also released during COP26 was the Department for Education’s
strategy ‘Sustainability and Climate Change: a draft strategy for the education and children’s services systems’. The strategy applies to all areas of education, including higher education, and proposes five key ‘action areas’ including climate education, green skills and careers. We are conscious of the impact of resource use through the goods we consume and the waste we generate, and look to the principles of the circular economy to improve our practices. This considers how we manage operational waste and the goods we procure, and also recognises the contribution our research teams make in this area.sus