58 | OPINION: LEGAL ADVICE | F INANCE AND MARKETS
Universities and other higher and further education institutions consume large amounts of energy in their daily operations, at a signifi cant cost. All those in the sector will, no doubt, wish to consider how best to reduce energy costs (and the associated environmental impact). Jason Prosser, a partner in the Energy & Utilities team at national law fi rm Veale Wasbrough Vizards, examines the issues
"THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS HOW TO DEAL WITH EXISTING BUILDING STOCK AND INFRASTRUCTURE"
The environmental challenge of climate change was recognised in the Climate Change Act 2008 (the Act), the world's fi rst legally-binding framework to reduce a country's greenhouse gas emissions. The Act set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their 1990 levels by 34% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. This target and other related goals
are not easy to meet and so the current government, which has stated that it will be the greenest ever, has hundreds of separate initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging sustainability and developing a low carbon economy to facilitate green growth and economic development. The UK is commit ed to facing head-
SEEING THE GREEN LIGHT
HOW TO BUILD SUSTAINABLY
on the so-called energy ‘trilemma’ (the challenge to lower carbon emissions, maintain security of energy supply and manage energy costs) and the HE sector has a role to play. Between 1990 and 2005, there was a 33% rise in the HE sector's total carbon emissions, demonstrating that HE institutions share the responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These statistics and the impact of the
Act led HEFCE, together with Universities UK and GuildHE, to implement a Carbon Reduction Target and Strategy for Higher Education in England (CRTS), imposing obligations on all HE institutions. The CRTS (published in 2010) requires institutions to reduce carbon emissions in scope 1 (direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the organisation) and scope 2 (emissions generated from purchased electricity consumed by the organisation) by reference to the Act's requirements set out above. The HE sector is required to turn the
national goals into institutional targets that can be measured over time against regular milestones. How this is done will vary widely and each institution will want to decide on its own way of achieving those targets to generate parallel environmental and fi nancial benefi ts.
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