The rating was awarded following the consumer comparison website’s analysis of UK universities’ work on sustainability
USwitch praised Greenwich across several areas, including for:
- Having renewable energy installations on site, including solar panels, solar thermal and an air source heat pump which is currently being installed;
- Running four electric vehicles as part of its fleet of vans;
- Training Residence Assistants to help understand and communicate sustainability within the university halls;
- A target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030; and
- A renewable energy tariff for its electricity.
The accolade highlights the university’s commitment to sustainability on a wide-reaching and day-to-day basis, encompassing student and staff behaviours and support to how buildings are run on each of its three campuses.
Professor Jane Harrington, Vice-Chancellor and CEO of the University of Greenwich said:
“It is brilliant to have this external recognition of the hard work that we have been doing at Greenwich for a long-time now. We know that sustainability and demonstrating our green credentials are important to our students and staff and we continue to strive to lead our sector in this work.”
Since 2012, People and Planet, a network of student campaign groups in the UK, has placed the university in its top 20 for its sustainability work.
In addition, the Times Higher Impact Ranking rated the university joint 86th globally for contributions to delivering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Within this ranking Greenwich was rated 14th out of over 1,600 universities for its work on delivering the most important SDG: ‘Partnering for the Goals’.
The university has been an accredited Fairtrade University for ten years, for selling fairtrade goods and helping improve working conditions across the developing world. Food For Life, a charity for sustainable and healthy food and farming awarded the university Gold for all its catering outlets and menus.
Greenwich’s commitment to protect natural spaces has also awarded it the Silver Hedgehog Friendly Campus award and the university holds an ISO 14001, an accreditation recognising its excellent environmental management through continually improving its environmental performance by rigorous external auditing of its facilities and estates.
The University’s Annual Sustainability report, illustrating progress against its key targets and more on its work to meet the UN SDGs.
To find out more and to get involved visit gre.ac.uk/sustain.
