Sustainability

Carbon Management Plan

This Carbon Management Plan covering the period 2010-16 has been written to meet Canterbury Christ Church University’s commitment through its Environmental & Sustainability Policy to reduce its use of natural resources and thereby its carbon footprint. There are compelling social & environmental reasons for the University to follow through the actions described in this plan which are in line with its core values.

Christ Church has made the promotion of a sustainable future one of the five overarching goal for its 2011-15 strategic plan published in Sept 2011. National targets have been set for carbon reduction through the 2008 Climate Change Act and the University is in support of the drive of the higher education sector to lead in meeting these targets. Many of the opportunities for carbon savings identified in this plan deliver significant revenue cost reductions and have good payback periods.

Annual Report 2010/11

The University has undertaken to report annually on the delivery of the Carbon Management Plan. Actions taken in the first year of delivery of the University’s Carbon Management Plan have reduced Scope 1 & 2 emissions from electricity, gas and university vehicles by 6%. As well as the reductions in these emissions by 550 tonnes of CO2 it also meant that utility bills came in £116K under the budget and puts Christ Church right on the line for its targeted 35% reduction by 2016. Given that there were upward pressures from a number of other actions increasing consumption the results are even more pleasing. The reductions came about through the physical changes made, through optimisation of controls and through the personal engagement of staff and students in switching off after use. An overall breakdown of the contributions from these actions is shown in the table below.

You can find out more about these reductions and the actions being taken on other emissions sources in the 2010-11 Carbon Management Programme annual report here.

A case study covering the specific actions taken at North Holmes Campus and University Centre Folkestone is can be read here.

Baseline Year 2009/10

Emissions from gas, electricity & university owned vehicles were 9,407 tCO2e (tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent) for 2009/10. These emissions are known as Scope 1 & 2 emissions.

Emissions from water use, waste disposal & business mileage in private cars totalled 848 tC02e in 2009/10. Data to define emissions from other business travel and staff & student commuting is not currently fully available. These types of emissions are known as Scope 3 emissions.

Targets

  • The CCCU Carbon Management Plan targets a reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 35% by July 2016 against a 2009/10 academic year baseline.

  • CCCU is targeting a reduction in Scope 1& 2 emissions of 57% by 2020 against a baseline of the 2009/10 academic year.

  • The University has set an aspirational target of a 20% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2020 against a 2011/12 baseline.  A firm target will be confirmed by the Senior Management team when the baseline is fully established.

More detail on the carbon reduction targets and the relationship to the national and sector targets is shown on the targets page.

More information

To get an overview of the CCCU Carbon Management Plan click here

To read the full version of the CCCU Carbon Management Plan click here