Opinion | 28 October 2021
By
Professor Cara Aitchison, President and Vice-Chancellor
Our eight universities serving Wales and the wider world have a central role in demonstrating leadership in times of crises; leadership that comes with the courage to seek solutions to the most entrenched social, economic and environmental issues of our times. Our universities are committed to driving a post-Covid economic recovery that is greener, healthier and fairer and we have the critical mass and capacity to be the catalyst for change.
Generating £5.3 billion in output in 2019/20, employing 62,000 people and sustaining one in every 20 jobs in Wales, according to a report published by Universities Wales earlier this month, our universities are not just drivers of the economy but are key to tackling Covid and other global challenges. We have seen what universities can do in developing the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine now manufactured and distributed globally.
In addition to Covid there is another pressing global issue and one that has been a global emergency for significantly longer than Covid. In advance of this week’s COP26 in Glasgow (26th United Nations’ Climate Change Conference) 140 UK universities, including all eight in Wales, have signed up to six commitments on climate action in a report published by Universities UK on 20 October and titled ‘Confronting the climate emergency: a commitment from UK universities’.
This commitment sets out how the UK’s universities will achieve 100 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the date enshrined in legislation in England and Wales. Like Welsh Government, however, many universities’ ambition to achieve Net Zero exceeds that required in law. At Cardiff Met our ambition is aligned with the targets adopted by Cardiff Council and Welsh Government’s wider ambition for the public sector; that Net Zero will be achieved by 2030.
Our universities are instrumental in combatting climate change. We are responsible for educating the next generation in the goals of the Future Generations (Wales) Act. We have a role in enabling everyone to understand the evidence of basic climate science and respond with pragmatism to the climate emergency. We undertake research and innovation that unlock the answers to the technological solutions needed to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. But, most visibly, we have a duty for walking the talk by greening our campuses and leading the way on the road to Net Zero through reducing our own reliance on fossil fuels and unethical procurement and investment.
Both the climate crisis and Covid require us to rethink our campuses as students seek more interactive and purposeful engagement in high quality environments that will replace the more passive learning of the large lecture theatre or the lockdown study-bedroom.
We can combine these two change agendas to create vibrant and verdant environments that build purpose, place, community and belonging by opening up our campuses to connect with our communities and sustain the nation’s rekindled love of nature and the outdoors.
We can ‘repurpose’ existing buildings rather than focus only on constructing new buildings, recognising that over 30% of the lifetime carbon emissions of a new building are released before the building is even opened. Our new Cardiff School of Technologies on Llandaff Campus is now housed in a repurposed 1950’s buildings. When inside the high-tech environment and surrounded by speaking robots it is a brand new, purpose-built university environment.
Travel to our campuses will also be more sustainable and healthier and we welcome the development of a key cycle superhighway route across Cardiff Met’s Llandaff Campus complementing our funding of 5,000 free memberships to encourage our students and staff to take advantage of the City Nextbike cycle scheme.
As a university with 11,500 students in Cardiff and over 9,000 more studying for Cardiff Met degrees around the world we are determined not to return to the environmentally damaging life of the frequent flyer, but to utilise the innovation, technology and skills that have developed at such pace over the last two years to help achieve our Net Zero ambitions.
No university will achieve its Net Zero ambitions alone. Our research and innovation partnerships with government, industry, business and the community are the key to joined up leadership and solutions.
The Food Industry Centre at Cardiff Met is, today, hosting a major conference for food and drink producers at the International Convention Centre Wales. Speakers will propose how Wales’ food and drink sector can contribute to reducing carbon emissions in the production, processing, packaging and transporting of food; activities that contribute more than one-third of human-induced global greenhouse gas emissions.
This is a global challenge that requires clear leadership to propose and manage significant change. The small changes matter too, like hosting farmers’ markets and Repair Cafes on campus and opening our Met Zero ‘no packaging’ food shop last week. Each of these small steps help lead the way towards a Net Zero future.
This article first appeared as a University View column in The Western Mail on 28 October 2021.
