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Signposting to the University's sustainability rankings information

This information related to the University's approach to sustainability has been compiled to support People & Planet University Sustainability League auditors.

Factsheet

Policy and strategy

For the University of Bath, sustainability is about conducting our activity (our research, our education, our operations and our engagement) in a way which embodies and addresses:

  • environmental health and climate action
  • social responsibility, equity and inclusion
  • economic and financial sustainability

This is represented through the University’s Sustainability Policy and we report on our progress through our annual Sustainability Report.

The University is currently working on a strategic Sustainability Plan which will bring together existing areas of focus, detailed below, as well as identifying our most significant areas for impact, ensuring our resources are directed where they can create the greatest benefit, for both people and planet.

In addition to the Sustainability Policy, the University has policy or procedures in the following sustainability areas:

Staff and HR

The University’s Chief Operating Officer, Dr Ghazwa Alwani-Starr, takes overall responsibility for key corporate functions including sustainability.

The University's sustainability work is led by Richard Jackson, Director of Sustainability and Space, and the Sustainability team, along with other support from colleagues in other teams who have direct responsibility for sustainability at University of Bath.

Staff across the University are part of a community of change makers with many ways to get actively involved in taking sustainability action.

Opportunities available include:

Environmental auditing and management systems

The University of Bath’s Internal Audit Department undertakes an annual independent assessment of the carbon data presented within the annual Sustainability Report.

The University signed up to EcoCampus in 2024 and achieved Bronze in March 2025.

Ethical investment and banking

The University's Investment Policy outlines our commitment to ensuring that funds are managed sustainably, responsibly and with integrity.

The Investment Sub-Committee provide assurance to Finance Committee on the management of the University’s investments, including ethical decision-making and ensuring funds are responsibly managed, in regard to environmental impact, social impact and governance.

Ethical careers and recruitment

We have a Careers and employability function at University of Bath and provide information for employers that would like to work with us. As members of the Association of Graduates Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) we are bound by its organisational policy and ethical framework, which is regularly reviewed.

The University is not part of any combined careers service.

Managing carbon

The first of the University’s Climate Action Framework principles is to reduce our carbon emissions. We have committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions across scopes 1, 2, and 3 by 2040. Our scope 3 commitment includes a baseline and reduction target for waste, water, procurement, staff and student business trips, staff and student commuting and carbon emissions associated with travel between students’ homes and the University at the start and end of the term.

The University has identified specific funds for net zero in our capital plans for the whole organisation:

  • our current 5-year plan includes £10m for net zero and an additional £9m for net zero within capital projects
  • our 15-year plan includes £38m for net zero and £36m for net zero in projects

We have also committed to ensuring high sustainability standards in our construction projects wherever feasible through our Sustainable Building Standard, and are looking to align our other capital spend with our net zero targets.

We will also continue to explore other sources of funding from Government or other third parties, and use this funding to leverage further investment.

Our Director of Sustainability is responsible for our carbon reduction plan with regular progress reports to the Sustainability & Climate Action Steering Group, University Executive Board and Council, as well as our annual Sustainability Report.

We have a target to be net zero by 2040 across all our scope 3 emissions. Our scope 3 emission data is reported in our 2023-24 Sustainability Update, which has been approved by the University Executive Board. A further breakdown of this data is shown in the table below.

Scope 3 category Emissions (tCO₂e)
Purchased goods and services 47,907
Capital goods including building and refurbishments 3,735
Transportation of goods to the institution 783
Waste 45
Business travel 6,693
Staff commuting 2,210
UK & International student travel 43,527
Student accommodation 3,813

The University has a Business Travel and Expenses Policy which seeks to reduce emissions from staff travel, in-line with our scope 3 net zero targets.

Workers' rights

The University is accredited as a Living Wage employer, a member of Electronics Watch via our membership of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium, and has pledged support to the Can’t Buy My Silence campaign.

Sustainable food

The University’s Sustainable Food Commitment (SFC) recognises the social and environmental impact of food and commits to supporting our community to make low carbon choices on campus, in line with our Climate Action Principles and Sustainability Policy. The University of Bath has a vegetarian food outlet, Parade, at the Claverton Down campus and all outlets provide vegan options.

The SFC applies to the University’s hospitality, retail and SU outlets on campus. It is included in the University’s Sustainable Procurement Policy and so is embedded in tenders and contracts with external contractors, for example for graduation ceremonies.

Both the SFC and Sustainable Procurement Policy were approved by the University Executive Board (UEB) and progress towards objectives is reported back to UEB, at least annually.

The University provides space and support for student and staff led sustainable food projects such as our community larder and our Gardening Club and cooking classes.

Staff and student engagement

Staff and student engagement actions

We offer a Climate Literacy course for all staff and students at the University and this is promoted during both staff and student induction. All new members of staff are sent a welcome pack which includes information about our sustainability commitments, goals, programmes and opportunities. Additionally new staff are invited to a welcome event where the Sustainability team present University strategies, policies and engagement opportunities regarding sustainability.

The University Sustainability Engagement Plan sets out our strategy for community engagement in sustainability at Bath. We regularly promote events and activities to encourage engagement including, in this academic year:

The University of Bath recognises that solutions to our carbon reduction challenges will come from many different areas of the University, which is why we have a Net Zero Carbon Campus Fund to provide small grants which support students and staff to take action and reduce carbon emissions at the University.

There is student and trade union representation on committees that oversee sustainability. The Sustainability & Climate Action Steering Group is responsible for governing the University's sustainability agenda and tracking progress towards our net zero targets.

The following lists the Steering Group, its sub-groups, and other relevant Groups, and the student and trade union representation within each.

Group Student representation Trade Union representation
Sustainability & Climate Action Steering Group Students' Union (SU) Activities Sabbatical Officer and SU Chief Executive UCU representative
Climate Action Advisory Group People & Planet SU Society Chair UNISON, Unite, and UCU representatives
Climate Action Education Advisory Group SU Education Sabbatical Officer Unite and UCU representatives
Transport Working Group UNISON, Unite, and UCU representatives
Sustainable Food Commitment Steering Group SU Activities Sabbatical Officer and People & Planet SU Society Chair

Student representation

Within the wider University there is also student representation at the Advancement Advisory Board, the Education Advisory Board, the Estates Strategy and Buildings Advisory Board, and the Student Experience Advisory Board, which all report into the University Executive Board.

Staff or student led evaluation

Bath University runs the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) programme, a standard for auditing sustainable laboratory operations. Currently, a third of laboratories, across 13 departments are taking part in LEAF, of which 40 have achieved Bronze certification, 9 have achieved Silver and 2 have achieved Gold.

The University also runs Green Impact to support and enable staff who don't work in labs to track, audit and take action to reduce their environmental impact. There are currently 181 staff signed up, with 25 teams across 22 different departments.

Education for sustainability

Commitment and governance

The University of Bath Strategy 2021-2026 places its five values at the heart of the Strategy, one of which stating ‘Supporting a sustainable community and adopting best environmental practice’ demonstrates our commitment to education for sustainable development. This is strengthened by the Climate Action Framework principle to ‘develop educational initiatives to build a world class reputation for high-quality education on climate-related issues with global reach and scale.

Implementing and tracking progress

The Climate Action Education Advisory Group regularly report progress on the Sustainability Education Strategy to the Sustainability & Climate Action Steering Group in addition to the annual Sustainability Report. Find out more about the University’s strategy for implementing and tracking progress in providing education for sustainability.

Supporting academic staff

Training and support is provided for academic staff to embed sustainability into the curriculum, such as an Education for Sustainability toolkit which is available to support sustainability teaching provision at the University. The toolkit includes resources such as: a tool to audit sustainability education within the curriculum; short, impactful videos explaining core sustainability competencies such as systems thinking; and subject-specific sustainability education materials. There are resources on embedding sustainability in the curriculum including the case study empowering students with design thinking

Education for sustainable development actions

The University of Bath promotes real-world learning and skills development for sustainability, as a core component of our sustainability commitments and goals. Our Vertically Integrated Projects (VIPs) are innovative research-based projects that enable students and staff to collaborate on long-term real-world issues.

Sustainability is a core research theme and strength at University of Bath. In the past year, we have launched several large research projects to tackle sustainability challenges, including:

We’ve also used our research to take steps forward in building understanding of sustainability challenges and solutions, such as:

We re-launched our Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change bringing together expertise across the University with a commitment to tackle the most urgent sustainability challenges across three themes: sustainable chemical technologies, sustainable systems and sustainable transformations.

Access to higher education

University of Bath offers financial support for refugees, asylum seekers, and those with discretionary leave or limited leave to remain, including:

Further information can be found in our Access and Participation Plan 2024-25 to 2027-28

Energy sources, waste and recycling, carbon reduction, water reduction

The latest available data submitted to the Estates Management Record (EMR), is made publicly available by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

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