Oxford SU to Host Climate Assembly to Craft a Community Led Climate Action Plan
With action taking place across the world today and multiple Russel Group announcements of accelerated climate action across leading UK universities, it is obvious that students are engaged more so than ever with this incredible topic. As of Wednesday, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff have announced a net 0 targets by 2030, Edinburgh by 2040, and Cambridge has committed to reducing its energy-related carbon emissions to absolute 0 by 2048 with a 75% reduction by 2030.
At Oxford SU, we understand student’s desire for urgency as well as a plan for our university. For this reason, we are hosting a Climate Assembly, to bring the University of Oxford together on a Climate Action Plan. One key aspect of the plan will have to be a new target, like net 0 by 2030, in line with fellow Russel Group Universities. But in order to achieve such a target, students and staff across the university and colleges have to work together to make changes in their respective communities—changes related to energy, food, water, waste and transport. It will take a community-wide effort to decarbonize our operations, a transition that students have demonstrated they are ready for.
As we all know, if Oxford is to lead on Climate, it will have to leverage the best of its own resources—
intellectual and financial—and mobilize its vast network across the governments and financial institutions of the world to advance changes of historical impact.
Each piece of this plan is being developed in detail by climate leaders across the university, who will come together at a Climate Assembly on October 23rd in the Sheldonian theatre (where students matriculate and graduate). Oxford SU wants students to feel that we are taking the importance of their action on climate change seriously.
We are in a moment, now, that will define the future more than, perhaps any other moment in history. It is up to all of us how we make use of this time.
Oxford SU is grateful to students for voicing their concerns because it is their passion that will be key in creating the community and environment we need to solve the problem.
Kaya Axelsson, Oxford SU Vice President of Charities and Communities
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/14/bristol-plans-to-become-carbon-neutral-by-2030
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1197555/SustainableStrat.pdf
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/green/doing/pledges/
https://www.birminghamupdates.com/council-to-launch-a-climate-taskforce-in-a-bid-to-become-carbon-neutral-by-2030/