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

1st in the world for marine
We are ranked the number one university globally for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal number 14: life below water.

Top 10 in the UK
We are ranked 9th in the UK in the People and Planet University League

Top 10 in the world
We are ranked 9th in the world for our efforts in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal number 17: partnerships for the goals.

[ Discover our many sustainability awards and accreditations

Our sustainable university

Our sustainable plans and strategy

The University of Plymouth has ambitious targets to reach net zero for scopes 1 and 2 by 2025, as outlined in our carbon management plan.

Our latest report information shows that we are 54% down in carbon emissions since our base year in 1990. (Interim 2021 sustainability report)

Find our plans and GRI standard sustainability reports here.

Click here for a full-size version of our 12 point climate action plan.

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.

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.