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The English higher education sector falls further behind its carbon reduction target
Source: Blue & Green Tomorrow
The Higher Education sector in England is further away from achieving its 2020 emissions reduction target compared to last year. The sector target of 43 per cent was set to help meet the UK’s carbon reduction commitment set out in the Climate Change Act 2008.
Although many Universities have delivered wide-ranging efficiency programmes, commercial growth in the sector has limited the absolute reductions in emissions achieved, mirroring the challenges faced by the economy as a whole to tackle climate change.
The performance of the sector continues to pose important questions about the effectiveness of existing policy mechanisms to achieve the institution and HEFCE set targets, as well as the legally binding long-term objective of 80 per cent reduction by 2050 for the UK as a whole.
The most recent data show that the projected emission reductions for 2020 have slumped to only 12 per cent, far behind the sector target of 43 per cent. The year on year increase in 2013/14 means that the sector has only reduced emissions by 7 per cent from the 2005 baseline with more than 75 per cent of universities set to miss their own 2020 targets.
