BUSINESS NETWORK


Nottingham universities rank among most sustainable


Nottingham’s two universities have both been ranked in the top four of the world’s most sustainable universities. The University of Nottingham placed third


and Nottingham Trent University was fourth in the UI Green Metric. Produced by the Universitas Indonesia, it is


the only university ranking in the world that measures each participating university’s commitment in developing an “environmentally friendly” infrastructure. The 2020 rankings, which including more


than 900 universities from 84 countries, looked at six indicators: setting and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste, water, transportation and education. Since first taking part in 2010, the University


of Nottingham has consistently been placed in the top four. In the past year, it published a university


strategy putting sustainability at the heart of the institution’s core goals and committing to joining the city of Nottingham in its ambitions to become carbon-neutral by 2028. In March 2020, the university joined other institutions in declaring a climate emergency. John Atherton, pro vice chancellor and chairman of the University Sustainability Committee, said: “The University of


Nottingham is delighted to once again be recognised for the hard work it is doing to embed environmental sustainability across the institution and make it an integral part of our education and research. Year-on-year, we have reduced our carbon dioxide emissions on campus, achieving a total reduction of 40% since 2009.” Nottingham Trent University improved on


last year’s ranking of fifth place by jumping into the top four. It was the only UK institution to score full marks in the education section, which looked at factors such as the number of publications, events and student organisations related to sustainability. Among its achievements were diverting


99% of waste from landfill this year, planting 18,000 trees over the past four years and launching a Plastic Planet initiative to drive down single-use plastic use. Carbon emissions have now been reduced by 51% since 2005. Head of sustainability Charmaine Morrell said:


“It’s great to see NTU recognised as one of the top five sustainable universities in the world for the fourth year in a row, as well as improving our ranking this year. This reflects not only the hard work of the estates team, but the commitment of staff and students to embed sustainable practices across our university."


Businesses back


future fuels plans Businesses are playing a key role in setting out Derby’s ambition to become the UK’s leading centre for future fuels technology, according to councillors. Derby City Council announced in October that


it wanted to embrace the city’s advanced manufacturing expertise to revolutionise the way low-carbon energy is used to power businesses, transport and homes. It believes Derby’s high-tech businesses are


ideally placed to develop the equipment and infrastructure that will allow communities to generate low-carbon power and to capture and store by-product or waste energy.


‘Our ambition is for Derby to showcase future developments in transport, commercial and domestic energy systems’


The council says the plan will create new jobs,


reduce energy costs for domestic and commercial customers, assist with national energy security, and help with diversification of the economy and decarbonisation goals. City council leader Councillor Chris Poulter


said the city’s strengths in engineering and innovation meant it was uniquely placed to lead on developing the technology that would enable widespread use of future fuels. “Derby already has the research, development


and manufacturing skills to make and deliver market-ready products for the integration of future fuels into an energy system and it has been deeply rewarding to receive so much interest from potential partners to help move this exciting initiative forward,” he added. “Our ambition is for Derby to showcase future


developments in transport, commercial and domestic energy systems, maximising local low- carbon power generation, capturing and using by-product energy and reducing energy waste. “The support we have received so far gives us


great hope that these ambitions can be realised.” Energy sources being considered include


NTU was ranked in the top five of the UI Green Metric for the fourth year running


renewables, advanced micro nuclear, advanced gas, friction, batteries and hydrogen. The proposals have been well-received by the


business and academic communities, with more than 80 companies and organisations now working with the local authority to develop its thinking.


Regional leaders commit to ambitious targets


The figureheads of three councils in the East Midlands are among 38 regional leaders in Britain who have pledged to reach net zero at least five years earlier than central Government. Leaders at Leicester City Council,


Leicestershire County Council and Nottingham City Council have signed the UK100 Net Zero pledge, which explicitly commits them to neutralising their own emissions by 2030 and those of their residents and businesses by 2045. In an event held by the UK100 NGO on 10


December to launch a year of activities ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021, the cross-party group of city mayors and council leaders began working together to push for more funding and powers from central Government to hit their new


emissions targets – which go beyond the UK’s stated goal for carbon neutrality by 2050. In the declaration, they said: “We will do


everything within our power and influence to rapidly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. “We will bring our council emissions to net


zero by 2030 and we will work with our residents and businesses to bring our wider communities’ emissions in line with net zero as soon as possible (and by 2045 at the latest).” The leaders, whose 38 authorities represent 20.4


million people, agreed to limit the use of offsets and use them only as a last resort when reducing emissions to net zero at source is not possible. They will aim for their offsets to be as local as


possible. Leaders have also committed to annual reporting of their progress from 2022 onwards.


business network February 2021 57


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