University of Manchester ranked among lowest for environmental sustainability

The University of Manchester was ranked as a third class university in terms of its environmental sustainability in a recent league table published by People and Planet.

Universities are scored on a variety of issues relating to sustainability, including their commitment to reduce the institution’s carbon footprint, as well as the receipt of funding and investment from the fossil fuel industry. Also included are employment factors, such as whether universities pay staff the national living wage.

The University of Manchester was poorly ranked at 110 out of 150 universities, and whilst only 25 per cent of universities were on track to reduce their carbon emissions by the targeted 43 per cent from 2005 to 2020, we are among the worst.

In stark contrast to our low position, Manchester Metropolitan University ranked at an impressive third place in the league table. Manchester Metropolitan Vice-Chancellor MalcoLm Press in a statement described the university’s success as, “a wonderful affirmation of the hard work that goes into ensuring that we embed sustainability across everything we do at Manchester Metropolitan”.

Measures implemented by Manchester Metropolitan to increase environmental sustainability include LED lighting, self-cleaning glass, and University-wide recycling. After being scored 91st in the League in 2007, Manchester Metropolitan has worked hard to achieve a top three position for three consecutive years now.

In comparison, the University of Manchester scored particularly badly in its connections with the fossil fuel industry, receiving over £27 million worth of research funding from companies such as BP and Shell.

However, a spokesperson from the University of Manchester criticised the league table, stating “many of the findings in this league table are either out of date, incorrect or measure issues with questionable validity”. For example, Manchester’s environmental strategy reduced both gas and water consumption by 20 per cent from 2012 to 2015.

The spokesperson also highlighted that “Manchester is the only UK University to have social responsibility as a key goal in its strategic plan, of which environmental sustainability is a key part.” For example, the university has just launched its 10,000 Actions programme encouraging staff to develop their own personal sustainability plan, the largest programme of its kind in the UK.

All details of the university’s environmental strategies can be found on the website.