Our priorities The University will balance capital spending on refurbishing and replacing the existing estate with the delivery of new buildings to meet research and education needs. It will provide an estate that meets the needs of staff and students, reduces environmental impact and is affordable to run and maintain.
Environmental policy, sustainability and ‘green’ travel
• Learning from the pandemic - Build on the experience of the pandemic and the potential shift to more environmentally sustainable working practices. • The strategy is underpinned by the following four ‘enablers’: • Governance - Embedding environmental sustainability in the University’s governance and decision making; • The Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee, established in 2021 as a subcommittee of the Planning and Resource Allocation Committee (PRAC), is chaired by Dr David Prout, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources) and has representatives from across the University and student body. The Subcommittee holds overall responsibility for environmental sustainability at the University. • Reporting - Developing a system of annual reporting of carbon emissions and biodiversity impact within the first twelve months, which will be published in the University of Oxford’s Annual Review and financial accounts; • Funding - Establishing the Oxford Sustainability Fund, making £200 million available for sustainability initiatives over the next 15 years, to finance the programme of action required to reach net zero carbon and biodiversity net gain by 2035; • Offsetting - Establishing a policy to guide our use of carbon offsetting and biodiversity offsetting. Visit our Environmental Sustainability Strategy Q&A page for responses to some of the key questions regarding the strategy.
Oxford University’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy was approved by Council on 15 March 2021. The strategy sets two ambitious targets: to achieve net zero carbon and to achieve biodiversity net gain, both by 2035 Through its environmental policies the University aims to:
The Estate Strategy has a number of priorities:
• To meet the changing patterns of research and teaching activity that result from changes in the size and shape of the University • To improve the utilisation of space through new buildings designed for flexibility and shared use, and the effective sharing of existing teaching and research facilities • To improve the condition and functional suitability of the estate by reviewing the use of existing buildings which are vacated when new ones are built
The strategy focuses on these ten priority areas:
• Research - Increase research and engagement in environmental sustainability. • Curriculum - Offer all students the opportunity to study environmental sustainability, either within or outside the examined curriculum. • Carbon emissions from University buildings - Reduce carbon emissions related to our energy consumption to a minimal level. • Biodiversity - Identify and address the University’s principal biodiversity impacts through its operations and supply chain, and enhance biodiversity on the University’s estate. • Sustainable food - Reduce the carbon emissions and biodiversity impact of our food. • Sustainable resource use - Reduce the environmental impacts of our consumption and supply chain. • International travel - Reduce aviation emissions from University staff and student travel and offset the balance of emissions. • Local travel - Limit transport emissions by reducing the need to travel, encouraging walking, cycling and the use of public transport and managing the demand to travel by car. • Investments - Ensure that the
• To reduce running costs and carbon emissions
A more efficient and flexible use of space and sharing of facilities will: • Reduce the resources needed to run and maintain less efficient buildings, enabling resource to be redirected for academic benefit
• Allow for new ideas to be realised in research and education through increased collaboration
University, as an investor, is part of the solution to climate change and biodiversity loss.
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