Sustainability: on the path to net zero

We're a leading, award-winning university for sustainability – establishing ourselves as the sustainable university

Contact our team at sustainability@plymouth.ac.uk.

The University is recognised as an innovative leader in higher education for sustainability, across teaching and learning, research and our University operations. We have three main goals:

To have a sustainable campus
To enable learning about sustainability and to pioneer research solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges
To motivate the next generation of students to go out and tackle the sustainability challenges they'll find in their workplaces

Award-winning recognition

Carbon neutrality
For all Scope 1, 2 and selected Scope 3 (Water, Waste, Business Travel) according with PAS 2060 at 31 July 2022 with commitment to maintain to 31 July 2023 for the period commencing 1 August 2021, NQA verified.

Top 5 in the UK
Our Peninsula Medical School is ranked joint 4th in the UK by the Planetary Health Report Card Initiative

Shortlisted by Times Higher Education
For our continued outstanding marine and maritime research and teaching, with our long term commitment to the UN SDGs

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Discover our many sustainability awards and accreditations

Our sustainable campus

View a full-size version of our 12 point climate action plan

Our sustainable plans and strategy

View our relevant sustainability policies, action plans and strategies. This also includes our latest GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standard sustainability reports.

One action we are proud of is achieving an ambitious target to reach carbon neutrality for all Scope 1 and 2 with selected Scope 3 for the 2021-22 academic year. You can view our carbon footprint for the 2021-2022 academic year which was offset as per PAS 2060 guidelines.

View our Sustainability Report Summary 2022

Get involved

We have an international reputation for being a leader in the field of sustainability.

But we want you to be involved!

We have a number of current initiatives and activities for you to join – explore and find out more about how to get involved.

Campus sustainability map

We've created a sustainable campus that reduces our impact on the environment, giving you a live sustainability learning experience. This campus trail tells you more about our sustainability activities and the technology that we have on campus, much of it hidden behind the scenes in the building’s structure.