Low carbon futures: assessing the status of decarbonisation efforts at universities within a 2050 perspective

Filho, WL, Vidal, DG, Dinis, MAP, Lambrechts, W, Vasconcelos, CRP, Molthan-Hill, P ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4425-1800, Abubakar, IR, Dunk, RM and Salvia, AL, 2023. Low carbon futures: assessing the status of decarbonisation efforts at universities within a 2050 perspective. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 13: 5. ISSN 2192-0567

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Abstract

Background: The implementation of sustainability at universities means that they can also play a key role in the transition to a low carbon economy, and in assisting global efforts towards decarbonisation. Yet, not all of them have so far fully engaged in this area. This paper reviews the state of the art on trends in decarbonisation, and outlines the need for decarbonisation efforts at universities. It also reports on a survey aimed at ascertaining the extent to which universities in a sample of 40 countries across the various geographical regions are engaged in carbon reduction efforts, identifying the challenges faced.

Results: The study has shown that the literature on the topic has been evolving over time and that increasing a given university’s energy supply from renewable energy sources has been the cornerstone of university-based climate action plans. The study also indicates that even though several universities are concerned with their carbon footprint and actively seeking ways to reduce it, there are some institutional obstacles that need to be overcome.

Conclusions: A first conclusion which can be drawn is that efforts on decarbonisation are becoming more popular, with a special focus being placed on the use of renewable energy. Also, the study has shown that, from the range of efforts being made towards decarbonisation, many universities are setting up a team with carbon management responsibilities, have Carbon Management Policy Statements, and review them. The paper points towards some measures which may be deployed, so as to allow universities to take better advantage of the many opportunities an engagement in decarbonisation initiatives offers to them.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Energy, Sustainability and Society
Creators: Filho, W.L., Vidal, D.G., Dinis, M.A.P., Lambrechts, W., Vasconcelos, C.R.P., Molthan-Hill, P., Abubakar, I.R., Dunk, R.M. and Salvia, A.L.
Publisher: Springer
Date: 16 February 2023
Volume: 13
ISSN: 2192-0567
Identifiers:
Number
Type
10.1186/s13705-023-00384-6
DOI
1736242
Other
Rights: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Divisions: Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by: Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added: 28 Feb 2023 11:04
Last Modified: 28 Feb 2023 11:04
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/48425

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