Introduction

Our vision

The climate and ecological crisis encompasses the major negative environmental, social and economic impacts caused by human exploitation of the natural world. The Climate and Ecological Crisis Action Plan (CECAP) is Bournemouth University’s (BU) response to mitigate and adapt to these impacts. This report is our annual update for the 2020/21 academic year on our progress against this plan. It is structured against our 8 objectives and identifies both areas of success and improvement.

We report our actual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 2020/21 against our targets for all scopes. This year we have continued to see the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic reducing travel emissions but increasing ventilation requirements causing us to use more gas. We are very pleased to see the impacts of our sustainable construction commitments to improve building energy performance and increase renewable energy generation and are looking forward to the strides we can take in the coming years to achieve a net zero Bournemouth University by 2030/31.

Our net zero vision is for a BU community that recognises the need to live in harmony with the natural world to protect the survival and wellbeing of all communities and takes action to enrich society for the benefit of people and planet.

This vision and our CECAP aim to support the achievement of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Everyone at BU has a role to play in addressing the climate and ecological crisis. Through our research we progress understanding of how to solve world problems including restoring natural habitats, responding to climate disasters, and engaging children with climate issues. Our estates are managed in a way that minimises the impact of our students and staff on the planet and through our educational programmes we help students leave BU understanding how their future careers can make a positive difference to the world.

Professor John Vinney

Vice-Chancellor Bournemouth University