COLUMN: There is one year left of AU's first climate strategy – where do we stand?
In one year, AU must have reduced the university's total CO2 emissions by 35 percent compared to 2018. In his column, university director Kristian Thorn states: AU is on the right track in reducing its carbon footprint. We’ll have to be on our toes to achieve our 2025 goal, but there is reason for optimism, the director writes.
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Disclaimer: This text was translated using machine translation / AI and post-edited by Maria Nielsen Pedersen
There is only one year left of Aarhus University's first climate strategy. One year to achieve the ambition of reducing our total CO2 emissions by 35 percent compared to 2018.
By the end of 2023, we had achieved the first 28 percent – and just as importantly, we emerged from the shadow of the COVID pandemic, allowing us to get a more realistic sense that we are moving in the right direction.
We still don’t know how things will develop in 2024, but last year’s trend is an important milestone we can be proud of. Especially considering the fact that the university has significantly increased its activity level at the same time.
We want to increase our contribution to society, but we aim to do so while gradually reducing our climate footprint.
And that is essentially the challenge we need to focus on: We want to increase our contribution to society, but we aim to do so while gradually reducing our climate footprint.
A lukewarm applause for the climate efforts
It’s definitely not an easy task. And the somewhat lukewarm applause that recently concluded the international COP29 summit in Azerbaijan doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Aarhus University aims to be a leading player in society, which means we must maintain our climate ambitions and work together to prove that sustainable development is within reach. If not the universities, who else should lead the way? Even though we've already picked the low-hanging fruit, we must reach higher to achieve the next climate gains.
Greener electricity and a self-sufficient campus
A significant part of the reductions needs to happen at the organisational level. This includes ensuring greener electricity and heat supply, particularly benefiting from a strong collaboration with Aarhus Municipality. We also need to continue researching and experimenting with a focus on energy mix and energy storage at AU Viborg, so that we can eventually make that campus self-sufficient.
However, there are limits to how far we can go with structural measures alone. It’s essential that we all contribute, as AU's staff and students are a crucial driving force if we are to meet our goals, including those we set beyond 2025.
Reductions move closer to everyday life
Fortunately, there is strong and wholehearted support within the organisation for moving the university in a more climate-friendly direction.
Students and staff have long requested the ability to sort waste on campus. We are addressing this at the beginning of 2025 with the rollout of the necessary sorting bins. We are also establishing a database for surplus furniture to make it easier to reuse items across the organisation.
The university's largest climate footprint comes from the goods and services we purchase. Therefore, we have decided that sustainability will be a factor in our purchasing decisions, alongside price and quality. It will be exciting but also challenging to implement in practice.
We’ll have to be on our toes to achieve our 2025 goal, but there is reason for optimism.
There are also dilemmas involved. Despite us all getting better at using online platforms since COVID, we can't avoid the fact that international top research also involves travel. This must remain legitimate. However, the climate equation has changed over the past decade, making it necessary for both academic environments and individuals to prioritise more sharply which trips to take and when it’s essential to book a flight.
There is reason to acknowledge the broad engagement in reducing the university's climate footprint. That good cooperation and the many individual contributions in everyday life have brought us a long way towards the shared goal of making AU more sustainable. We’ll have to be on our toes to achieve our 2025 goal, but there is reason for optimism, and I look forward to continuing this work for the sake of the climate.