Our Carbon Footprint

UCC continually monitors its carbon footprint including scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 emissions.  Scope 3 emissions are those that are related to the goods and services that we procure and our commuting and business travel emissions.  UCC Buildings and Estates and the Cleaner Production Promotion Unit began a project in August 2019 to refine our scope 3 measurement so that we can put in place an action plan to reduce our emissions.  The final report, which is intended as a discussion document to refine our objectives can be downloaded here: Towards a Climate Action Plan for UCC

Our most up to date carbon calculation can be found here – https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/university-college-cork-national-university-of-ireland-cork-co-corcaigh/report/2018-07-20/OP/air-climate/OP-1/

You can read about action to reduce the carbon emissions of purchases on our procurement page and find out more about business travel emissions on our blog page.

Climate Action Events

UCC Green Campus supports the student strikers who have brought about a huge change in the public discourse around the climate emergency.   In September UCC staff and students stood in solidarity with the student strikers and held a special event on the Quad where our student leaders, as well as the President and Deputy President, addressed the campus community.

Universities Respond to the Climate Emergency

UCC are members of the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC) and signatories of the SDG Accord.  The EAUC were one of the first alliances to take the step of declaring a Climate Emergency and this week published a framework with actions for member institutions to follow in responding to this crisis.  Below is an overview of what UCC is currently doing and/or plans to do over the next 12 months in relation to that framework.

Of course, there is also a huge amount of work being undertaken by our academic community in developing the knowledge and solutions required to address these challenges.  Combining our world-class knowledge with the university’s commitment to deliver change on campus and in local communities will be the key to achieving the level of transformation required.

We look forward to working with our UCC Community on these initiatives.  If you would like to be directly involved then please just get in touch at greencampus@ucc.ie

Read about how UCC Green Campus is addressing the EAUC’s Climate Emergency Framework.

Climate Emergency.pdf