Rachael Rothman and Tracy Wray: Reducing emissions requires a united effort

This challenge should not be underestimated. As a research-intensive university, Sheffield has large associated Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with many labs and research facilities that require specific operational conditions and energy-intensive equipment. We also have a number of old and listed buildings that are not energy efficient and, as a city centre campus, large-scale on-site low carbon energy generation is not practical.

Our latest figures show that the University has achieved a 47% cut in our on-campus emissions since 2005/6, exceeding our targeted 43% reduction over this period. We are proud of the strides we have made in reducing our total emissions; but future cuts will become increasingly challenging to achieve.

The users of our campus - our staff and students - have a role to play in helping us reduce emissions. Through our Green Impact scheme, departments and students work in teams to run projects to help us achieve our sustainability goals, receiving awards for engaging staff in events and activities which encourage behaviours to reduce energy use, cut waste or contribute to society. Our Students’ Union is pioneering student-led projects to change consumer behaviour in its food outlets, using nudge techniques to guide buyers to more sustainable food choices.

But behaviour change can only get us so far. We have a responsibility to put in place the systems, processes and infrastructure that make the sustainable choice the easiest one, thus embedding sustainability in all of our activities. That is why we recently switched to 100% renewable electricity contracts, have installed thousands of bike parking spaces on campus, and are working on a new sustainable buildings standard. We want to ensure that our future campus is as energy efficient as possible for its users. We must as an organisation take the climate emergency seriously, and ask the same of our staff and students.

Dr Rachael Rothman is co-director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, and academic lead for sustainability, and Tracy Wray is director of corporate communications and professional services lead for sustainability, at the University of Sheffield