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Let's be friendsAre UK unis in transition yet? People & Planet's Green League 2010 reveals all today
Will heading off to uni in September increase or decrease your carbon footprint? People & Planet's Green League 2010, published this week, reveals that your choice of uni could make all the difference!
Congratulations to the University of Plymouth which takes top spot in this year’s Green League thanks to a strong score on both environmental policy and performance sections. Also in the top 5 are the universities of Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Central Lancashire, Aston University and Nottingham Trent.
People & Planet’s 4th annual Green League, published today in the Times Higher Education, is the only league table ranking 133 UK universities by environmental performance. It is based on 11 environmental policy and performance-related criteria including carbon emissions per head, waste recycling rates and new criteria measuring efforts to engage students and staff in cutting carbon emissions
Lost in Transition?
For the first time ever, the Green League 2010 compared the scope and ambition of universities’ carbon reduction plans against sector-wide climate targets introduced earlier this year by UUK, GuildHE and HEFCE. Unfortunately, we found slow progress despite the fact that capital funding will soon be linked to emissions cuts. Whilst some universities are on track to cut emissions by 34% over the next 10 years, this Green League reveals a severe lack of ambition and urgency across the sector more broadly.
Louise Hazan, who helped compiled People & Planet’s Green League 2010, said:
“We expected this year’s Green League to show the sector making a clear transition towards low-carbon operations - it’s what students and the Government have been pushing for. Although an increasing number of universities are finding innovative ways of cutting emissions, we found that the sector as a whole is emitting 25% more carbon now than it did 5 years ago. That’s obviously incredibly worrying with regards to climate change. Despite big improvements in many areas, the majority of universities are simply still not pulling their weight.”
People & Planet congratulates all those universities which achieved First Class awards in this year’s Green League. Their success is a tribute to sustained and comprehensive efforts to make the transition to a low-carbon higher education sector. But we can’t leave it to a small number of leading institutions: all universities must play their part and take urgent and ambitious action now.
Student and staff engagement crucial to cutting emissions
The Green League 2010 also reveals that, alongside strong leadership and carbon management plans, staff and student engagement is one of the most crucial and cost-effective ways to improve environmental performance. Staff and student engagement was measured comprehensively for the first time this year. Encouragingly, People & Planet’s survey revealed that student engagement was felt to be less of a barrier to improvements than the lack of funding, staff capacity or the age of buildings.
Susan Nash, VP Society & Citizenship NUS, commented:
“NUS is pleased to support the People & Planet Green League, a powerful tool which has transformed institutions, and helped put sustainability well and truly on the desk of every Vice Chancellor. The Green League demonstrates the range of successful schemes in operation, giving students and staff vital information about the success and gaps in institutional performance”
Food for thought
New criteria measuring sustainable food procurement were also added this year to measure how far university catering services have moved towards the provision of sustainable, local, freshly-prepared and organic food. People & Planet worked closely with food experts Sustain: the alliance for food and farming and the Soil Association
Rosie Blackburn, from Sustain, commented:
“We’re very pleased that People & Planet’s Green League looked at food this year. The food industry is responsible for about 30% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and Sustain believes universities, together with the entire public sector, should be leading by example and showing students what good, healthy, sustainable food looks and tastes like. We’re delighted that an increasing number of universities - some persuaded by the Green League, others on their own initiative - are changing their food and offering students food that is good for their health and the environment”.
Making Degrees Cooler
Manchester Metropolitain University (MMU), which jumped 30 places to 27th in the Green League 2010, is one of 20 universities taking part in a pioneering behaviour change programme, Degrees Cooler, led by NUS. For example, a student-led energy-saving competition between halls of residence saved £14,000 on electricity bills this year and cut 75 tonnes of carbon off the university’s carbon footprint.
Professor John Brookes, Vice Chancellor of MMU, which aims to become one of the UK’s first ‘transition universities’, comments:
“MMU places environmental sustainability alongside graduate employability as our top two priorities. Protecting the environment is no longer optional - it is a duty shared by every university student and member of staff”
‘Most Improved’ award goes to….
The biggest improver in this years’ Green League was the Royal College of Music, congratulations! They gained a massive 104 places to move up to joint 22nd, showing that rapid transition is possible if the will and leadership is there.
Susan Sturrock, a spokeswoman for the Royal College of Music, said:
Last year’s Green League galvanised us into action and we are proud of the progress we have made. Staff and students have been united and active supporters of our initiatives. Our immediate objective is to be the UK’s greenest conservatoire, then to aim for one of the top places in People & Planet’s Green League!
As well as the potential reputational risk associated with scoring lowly in the Green League, much of the change in the sector has been driven by thousands of students campaigning for greener universities and working alongside staff to raise awareness and change behaviour at the campus level. What People & Planet’s Green League shows is the clear need for more concerted Government pressure on universities to act fast and for universities themselves to engage all their staff and students in the transition to a low-carbon future. With funding cuts looming, those that don’t act now will suffer later.
So how did you university score? Check out the full Green League results now.
