Kent has backed Canterbury City Council’s recent commitment to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2030, while also updating on the University's own work to develop a comprehensive plan that responds to the climate and ecological crisis.
The University is fully committed to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which includes objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and regenerate ecology. Since June 2018, the University’s FutureProof programme has been working to embed these within its operations and teaching, with the focus now moving to a phase of intense planning and action to address the climate and ecological emergency.
Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Karen Cox said: ‘We fully acknowledge the climate and ecological crisis facing the planet and strongly support Canterbury City Council’s recent declaration. As an institution that researches and teaches about the causes and effects of global environmental change, we are strongly aware that our staff and students have a combined responsibility – both as a leading exemplar of what must be achieved and as a wider advocate for sustainability – to enable the radical societal changes needed to mitigate the causes of global heating.
‘We are determined to harness the unique strengths we offer as a university in tackling the crisis, bringing together combined expertise across our education, research and wider functions. We are currently preparing an ambitious sustainability strategy informed by research from the School of Anthropology and Conservation that will enable us to set clear targets to reduce emissions, along with tangible steps to get us there. Alongside this, we will play a lead role in the wider movement to tackle the crisis, by contributing to the collective knowledge base and through our impact across society.’