London Met excels in People and Planet University League 2015 after smashing carbon reduction targets by 10%.
Date: 3 March 2015
London Metropolitan University’s green credentials have been given a boost by a strong performance in the 2015 People and Planet University League rankings.
London Met scored above universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London in the rankings, published annually by People and Planet, an independent organisation aimed at promoting ethical and environmental performance in Higher Education.
Particularly successful areas for London Met included carbon and water reduction and carbon management, where the University earned top marks for its carbon management plan and short term reduction targets.
Rachel Ward, Sustainability Manager at London Metropolitan University, said: “We've undertaken a lot of work over the past four years to reduce our environmental impact.
“One of the key areas we have improved is carbon emissions associated with energy use. We had a target to reduce our carbon emissions by 33% by the end of 2014 and we far exceeded this by reducing emissions by 43%.
“The largest saving has come from areas such as heating and ensuring that equipment isn't run overnight.”
Staff engagement scores high
Another area where London Met scored highly was staff and student engagement in environmental issues.
The University took part in the Mayor of London's Low Carbon Entrepreneur competition 2015, is hosting its own Green Week full of events.
“We've made a strategy to improve our score for next year, including undertaking sustainability inductions for all students and developing a waste strategy to implement a new recycling system,” Rachel said.
“We’re also updating our Carbon Management Plan at the moment to increase our reduction target to 50% by 2020.”
Green impact at the Students Union
For the first time, London Met’s Students’ Union is taking part in NUS Green Impact, which is an environmental award accreditation scheme that aims to make the University more sustainable and raise awareness of environmental issues amongst staff and students.
The SU applies for the bronze accreditation which requires them to provide evidence on fulfilling a total of twelve different criteria.
Marco Brunone, Hub Officer and Deputy President of the SU, said: “As part of our corporate social responsibility agenda, the NUS Green Impact award scheme is a perfect way to disclose our efforts in tacking environmental issues.
“The award scheme gives us the opportunity to engage, expand and measure the performance of our work by giving us the correct accreditation for the contribution on the field of environmental sustainability.”
The Green Society of London Met was set up to help the SU to create awareness of environmental issues amongst staff and students.
“The Green Society is student platform where environmental issues are covered and discussed. It provides practical solutions to environmental problems, raises awareness about what you can do to make a difference and promotes renewable energy, sustainability, and reduction of carbon emission in university and the city,” Marco said.
“The society aims to promote new ideas from students by competing in internal and external contests, promotes ethical business practice and is a firm auditor of corporate social responsibility.”
