Accordingly, the language, content and distribution of all sustainability-related communications has been successfully adapted to broaden the appeal of sustainability by raising awareness of its wider relevance and to coordinate and amplify sustainability activities that are happening across all areas of the University. This has assisted with a positive response to a newly formed sustainability governance structure which was launched in September 2024, and which has representation from every faculty and division on either the Sustainability Steering Group or Sustainability Board.

Reflecting the devolved nature of the majority of carbon emissions, this reviewed Sustainability governance structure replaced the previous stand-alone Climate Emergency and Sustainability Group. Its purpose is to coordinate and facilitate activities and awareness that primarily drive a net reduction in carbon emissions over the next ten years, as well as responding to and preparing for increasingly higher expectations of sustainability performance from funders and league tables.

Student expectations of universities and how they demonstrate commitment to sustainability through their operations and curriculum are also increasing. One headline finding from the 2024 SOS-UK student sustainability survey showed that 87% of Lancaster student participants believe that Sustainable Development should be actively incorporated and promoted by the University.

The results of this survey were released in December 2024 and are being analysed to help inform future student engagement. This is especially important since the dissolvement of the Green Lancaster partnership in July 2024. Instigated by LUSU, Green Lancaster which was previously funded by the University, was fully adopted by LUSU under the new name of LUSU Green and is now operating from a more grassroots, society-based position. The University has adopted responsibility for major projects previously delivered under the Green Lancaster brand, for example, Don’t Ditch It.

Overall, there has been an increase in carbon emissions (4.4%) from 71,406 tonnes in 22/23, to 73,455 tonnes in 23/24.

The largest individual contributors to the University’s carbon emissions profile, or those that have seen the most significant increases in the last academic year are as follows:

1. The consumption of natural gas remains the largest contribution to scope 1 and 2 emissions at 16%
2. There has been a 50% increase in emissions related to business and academic travel, notably a 12% increase in flight numbers with a higher proportion of long-haul flights. Overall, these emissions account for 6% of scope 3 and now exceed pre-Covid levels.

Though there has been a reduction in emissions associated with international students travelling to and from campus (reflecting the decrease in international student numbers), the remaining emissions still represent 15% of scope 3 emissions.

1. Other manufactured products have increased by 59% since 22/23 due to spend increases on a range of suppliers, notably furniture. Overall, this category is responsible for 2% of scope 3 emissions.
2. IT and Comms remained similar and account for approximately 15% of scope 3 emissions.
3. Business services have seen a 44% increase since 2023, largely from suppliers such as AECOM, KPMG, and Crunch DMC. 400 additional suppliers have also been added to the system which will have contributed to this overall increase, representing 16% - the same as our natural gas consumption footprint.

When the carbon reduction targets were set in 2019/20 there was a reasonably developed plan for reducing scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, however the university and sector’s understanding of scope 3 was only just emerging.

As already outlined, there is complexity not just within scope 1 and scope 2 future mixes, but also how expenditure to reduce these emissions will impact on our scope 3 profile. This can be seen already by the business services associated with the solar farm and Net Zero Energy Centre contributing to an overall gain in the scope 3 category.

It is unclear how the scope 3 trend will evolve under the current budgetary pressures; however, it should be noted that since emissions are currently largely proportional to expenditure, any temporary reductions in the latter cannot be relied upon to deliver sustained emission reductions.

The success of the University’s Scope 3 net zero target relies upon engagement, behavioural and cultural changes by staff, suppliers, and to a lesser extent, students. The Procurement and Sustainability teams continue to focus on scope 3 activities within four workstreams:

• Workstream 1: improving visibility of carbon data through the use of a Carbon Dashboard tool and enhanced reporting via the Finance System. The Carbon Dashboard is available to all budget holders and provides an up-to-date, visual snapshot of estimated Scope 3 emissions based on Procurement and Travel activities for their areas.

In 2024/25 we are working to improve the source data, where possible moving from HESCET estimates to more accurate emissions data provided by our suppliers. A number of changes have been made in the Finance System to underpin this and to improve reporting.

• Workstream 2: staff engagement on procurement and travel. We work to raise awareness by publicising the Scope 3 data on associated intranet pages, at staff meetings, and hold training events. We promote resources to assist staff to procure and travel more sustainably, including the Sustainable Business travel Guidance, Responsible Procurement Checklist and Sustainable Procurement Impact Analyses.
• Workstream 3: providing guidance and collaborating with sector colleagues to develop knowledge. Building on a pilot project in 2023, this year the Procurement and Sustainability teams have worked with a number of other Universities to establish the Net Zero Carbon Tool as an HE-wide database of supplier emissions data and carbon reduction plans. Through this collaboration, we have helped to develop an approach to Scope 3 for the sector. We are part of the HEPA (Higher Education Procurement Association) Responsible Procurement Group which exists to share and develop best practice in all areas of Sustainable Procurement.
• Workstream 4: working with our supply chain to understand existing spending impacts. All contracted suppliers are asked to sign up to the Net Zero Carbon Tool to report on their carbon emissions and to share carbon reduction plans. Sustainability forms part of the agenda for all contract review meetings. For selected suppliers, we track more detailed KPIs and carbon reduction plans. An annual Sustainability Questionnaire capturing additional information around carbon emissions, as well as wider sustainability information, is sent to contracted suppliers. In 2025, we plan to extend this to all suppliers.

As predicted in the 2023 Annual Sustainability Report, the core activities of the team have included a greater focus on Scope 3 carbon emissions as outlined in section 5, and faculty engagement. The consultation work led by the Head of Sustainability whilst developing the UEB paper on the Research Concordat built upon and accelerated engagement with faculties and has provided a valuable lift-off point to plan future engagement. Our other engagement activities and methods of communication are categorised as below:

Staff meetings, events and awards

1. Winner of the ‘Money for Good’ category in the 2023 Green Gown Awards, and shortlisted twice in the 2024 Green Gown Awards.
2. New sustainability governance structure launch event.
3. UEB update on scope 3 carbon emissions and expanding pace and scale of activity to achieve Net Zero carbon targets.
4. Sustainability updates presented to the Professional Services Leadership Team.
5. Delivered two dedicated Elevenses sessions (one on Sustainability, the other on Scope 3 emissions specifically).
6. Provided a sustainability update to Facilities Networking Group and all faculty PRCs with follow-ups planned with RES, FST and FHM to discuss implications of the Research Concordat.
7. The Head of Sustainability contributed several questions regarding sustainability and the University’s Net Zero carbon targets within the 2024 all-staff survey.
8. A social value report was commissioned by the Head of Sustainability to examine the 2024 Don’t Ditch It project outputs, impacts, and opportunities for improvement. Highlighting the social value of this project is a new approach and directly addresses a recommendation made by PwC in their 2023 audit of the University’s sustainability governance.
9. Two Task and Finish Groups have been established and led by the Head of Sustainability to address the Don’t Ditch It project and Business and Academic travel.
10. Three Sustainability Knowledge Exchanges held in 2024 with contributions from each faculty, several divisions, and students.
11. The award criteria and assessment panel of the Environmental Sustainability staff award has been reviewed for implementation in 2025.

Formal curriculum, research engagement and student opportunities

1. A think-piece on integrating sustainability within the curriculum collaboratively written by the Head of Sustainability and Professor Adrian Friday was provided to the CTP community.
2. Collaboratively hosted with the Procurement team a micro-internship to examine our suppliers’ contribution to Scope 3 and, three further groups of MSc students from LUMS, also examining sustainability within our supply chain.
3. The Sustainability team hosted a MSc placement student from the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) who examined best practices in biodiversity within the Higher Education sector and will be used to inform the development of a new approach to replacing the 2024 Ecology Plan.
4. The University was successful in its application to join a collaborative project between the British Academy and SOS-UK. The project ran from January – June 2024 and focused on student-led ‘living laboratory’ projects to demonstrate the importance of the arts, humanities and social sciences in tackling sustainability challenges.

Website and press

1. Internal and external sustainability websites are under continuous review, with changes made to improve accessibility, accuracy and presentation of information.
2. A monthly round-up of sustainability stories from across the University within LU Text was established early in 2024.
3. Sustainability and carbon performance have been included for the first time within the University financial accounts. This signals an important and necessary approach to integrating sustainability within existing reports, illustrating its relevance in all core business functions.
4. The Head of Sustainability has written two pieces about the University’s solar farm which went to press in 2024. The CIOB’s printed and digital Guide to Embodied Carbon released in October 2024 includes a sub-chapter about the solar farm’s whole life carbon assessment and the valuable learning to arise from this industry first.
5. The December 2024 printed edition of IEMA’s Transform magazine includes a feature article on end-of-life renewables. This article was collaboratively written with other industry solar experts, namely Professor Ana Costa, Anne Johnstone (Vital Energi) and Dr Charlotte Stamper (EMR recycling), providing a unique examination of multiple stakeholder perspectives of a shared problem.