Sustainability at the University of Bath
Annual report 2025/26
A message from our Vice-Chancellor
"Sustainability remains one of the defining responsibilities of our time, and I am proud of the way the University of Bath is rising to that challenge. Across our community, there is a growing commitment to driving positive change - through our research, innovation, and education, and through the way we operate as an institution.
Over recent years we have strengthened the foundations for this work, and later this year we will launch a new Institutional Strategy in which sustainability will continue to be a key focus and area of strength.
Our ambition is clear: to contribute meaningfully to a healthier, more sustainable future and ensuring Bath remains a place where people can thrive. I am grateful to, and inspired by everyone in our community whose passion and commitment is driving this work forward.”
Professor Phil Taylor
Vice-Chancellor and President
Introduction
At the University of Bath, we’re on a mission to prepare people and ideas to shape a better future. Through our teaching, research, innovation, and operations, we’re working to address the complex challenges facing society and the planet.
Sustainability is a core value at the heart of our 2021–26 Institutional Strategy. It contributes to our forward-thinking approach to how we educate, generate knowledge, operate, and collaborate. For us, sustainability means acting in ways that strengthen:
- environmental health and climate action
- social responsibility, equity and inclusion
- economic and financial stability
Our contribution takes many forms. It’s reflected in:
- education that prepares students for a changing world and empowers them as pioneers for positive change
- research that advances understanding and solutions for sustainability
- innovation that turns ideas into real-world impact
- operational choices that reduce negative impacts and model best practice
- community engagement that builds shared purpose and collective action
Our commitment to sustainability
Our approach to sustainability has developed over many years, with significant activity taking place across our University community. This work has been brought together with the launch of our Sustainability Policy in 2025. Building on this progress, we will introduce a new Sustainability Plan later this year to provide clearer focus to our work and clarity on how sustainability adds value to our activities at Bath.
The Plan will set out how we will:
- champion sustainability in our education, equipping students and graduates for a changing world and empowering them as future leaders, so that our University and our students can strive to deliver global excellence with impact
- lead in sustainable sport, building on our strengths as The Times and The Sunday Times Sport University of the Year 2026
- embed sustainability in how we operate, ensuring our campus and operations provide strong foundations for the future
Monitoring progress
56th
in the QS World
Sustainability Ranking 2026
scoring strongly for environmental research with 95.9 points
49%
of students
are experiencing embedded and relevant sustainability education through their course
Annual sustainability survey 2025/26
↓16%
Our University carbon footprint
has decreased 16% compared to the previous year
Our University carbon footprint 2024/25
92%
of staff and students
care about sustainability
Annual sustainability survey 2025/26
65%
of staff and students
believe the University is prioritising sustainability
Annual sustainability survey 2025/26
46%
of staff and students
feel empowered to address their climate impact at the University
Annual sustainability survey 2025/26
A message from our Director of Sustainability
"Over the past year, the world has continued to grapple with profound environmental, social and economic pressures. Higher education is not insulated from these forces: universities everywhere are navigating financial constraints, shifting expectations and an urgent need to demonstrate real impact. In this context, sustainability is both a responsibility we carry and a means by which we can provide value and leadership for our partners, our community and the wider world.
What encourages me most at Bath is how deeply this commitment now runs through our community. We are at an important moment in our journey though, and I look forward to launching a new Sustainability Plan later this year. Sustainability can add value to everything we do at Bath, from embedding sustainable practice in our operations, to championing sustainability in education, to leading the way in sustainable sport as The Times and The Sunday Times Sport University of the Year 2026.
There is much to be proud of, and much still to do. Our community expects ambition and integrity in this work, and so do we. Together, we are shaping a University that not only responds to global challenges, but helps create a healthier, more sustainable future for all."
Richard Jackson
Director of Sustainability and Space Management
Achievements, actions and progress
Progress requires honesty, which is why we report annually on our sustainability actions, outcomes and ongoing challenges.
Educating for a sustainable future
Empowering our students and staff through education is a vital aspect of our approach to sustainability at Bath.
Teaching innovation
Through our curriculum transformation process we continue to innovate for sustainability and embed applied sustainability learning experiences.
- Partnering with a Community Interest Organisation to embed social sustainability in marketing education, School of Management
- Applying psychology knowledge and skills in a living lab education project focused on enhancing institutional sustainability challenges, Psychology
- Co-creating a peace and justice-focused learning experience to provide global engagement opportunities, and build cultural awareness and sustainability skills, Social & Policy Sciences
- Taking an interactive, interdisciplinary approach to engaging first year engineering students to the complex, interconnected nature of climate change and to identify solutions, Electronic & Electrical Design
- Embedding real-world consultancy to develop applied sustainability leadership skills, School of Management
We're responding to evolving industry and student needs by developing and introducing new and specialised courses, such as a new masters course in Climate, Sustainability and Social Transformation that will start in 2027.
Enhancing learning experiences
We continue to provide students with opportunities to further their knowledge through Carbon Literacy courses and Climate Fresk workshops. Over 400 people have taken part in a Climate Fresk to date and 12% of them have become trained facilitators, allowing us to continue growing the reach and impact of this workshop.
Students can also make their mark through our innovative Vertically Integrated Projects (VIPs). These are research-based projects tackling real-world sustainability issues that enable students to collaborate across disciplines while working with an academic lead. For example, groups are:
- driving sustainability progress with a church in Bath
- conducting an economic impact study for a local carnival
- developing school resources to teach about sustainable technologies
In March, we hosted our annual One Young World Bath forum, a student-led event seeking to accelerate progress for sustainability. This marks 10 years of partnership between the University and this global community of 20,000 young leaders across 196 countries. Recognising the strength of our partnership, we have awarded an honorary degree to Kate Robertson, Co-Founder and CEO of One Young World.
Future-focused education
This year we have developed a bold, new, strategic initiative to embed sustainability across all aspects of education at Bath. We will build on the considerable work undertaken to embed sustainability in courses through our curriculum transformation process, as well as the many sustainability-themed co-curricular opportunities already available for students.
The new initiative will:
- provide greater visibility, clarity and cohesion to sustainability education
- prepare every graduate to thrive in a world shaped by sustainability challenges and opportunities
- position Bath as a leader in education innovation and graduate outcomes
The initiative will be piloted in 2026/27 to roll out fully in 2027/28.
Students making impact
Quality sustainability education will equip our students to be innovators and pioneers for change in whatever career or industry they choose, while also providing them with the skills and experience to make change as a student.
There are many students and graduates that we would like to celebrate for making waves in the face of global challenges and we have shared just a few of them here.
Lucia Burtnik
Lucia’s PhD explores how trust, involvement and fairness in transport policy inform acceptance of sustainable travel measures. Using the University as a Living Lab, she ran workshops with students and staff to test how participation influences attitudes toward a new Travel Plan. Findings feed directly into University action, giving the project rigorous research value and tangible institutional impact.
Grace Greenfield
Grace works as an Impact Analyst at The Good Economy, where she supports impact investing that benefits people and planet. Her International Development with Economics degree at Bath and placement helped her blend an interest in economics with social purpose, opening a career focused on responsible finance and sustainable development.
Pushpak Kohle
As a Sustainability and Management student, Pushpak joined Bath with a clear intention to develop expertise but went on to demonstrate a consistent ability to apply academic insight to practical action on campus. This included facilitating education workshops, delivering engaging student activities, auditing staff action for sustainability and conducting research on sustainability in education.
Joni Wildman
Construction is a carbon-intense and wasteful industry, so Joni is researching sustainable alternatives to building insulation. She's working with fungi to create a material with low embodied carbon, good insulation properties, and waste repurposing potential. She's been recognised by winning the Godfrey and Sue Hall Doctoral Researcher Prize and Gold at STEM for Britain competition.
Sport and sustainability
Our forthcoming Sustainability Plan will combine and build on our dual strengths in sustainability and sport, to shape a healthier future for people and the planet.
We have established research expertise—from public attitudes and pro‑environmental behaviour change to market value and materials innovation—that can be strategically applied to the sustainability challenges facing the sports sector. Work is already in motion, including projects with community sports groups exploring how the passion of fans and clubs can be harnessed to drive meaningful environmental action.
Growing impact through partnerships
We develop partnerships locally, nationally and internationally to increase our impact in addressing sustainability challenges. This year we have:
- co-delivered workshops at the UNFCCC Climate Conference (SB 62) and at COP30 to empower youth climate leaders
- presented panel discussions at COP30 as part of the ActNowFilm project team to raise the profile of young people in international negotiations
- Dr Yixian Sun and Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh discussed global sustainability leadership on leading climate podcast, Outrage + Optimism
- held the Supergen Energy Networks Hub Annual Conference bringing together leading voices from UK Universities, industry, and government to address urgent UK and global energy challenges
Expert input influencing global change
The University engages with government on sustainability to share evidence, shape effective policy, and ensure that our research and expertise can contribute to national progress on climate action, social equity, and long-term environmental resilience. In the past year, this has included:
- sharing expertise for the Seventh UK Carbon Budget
- calling for urgent climate-health action at WHO commission hearing
- contributing to government guidelines that emphasise the importance of public health for decisions about urban development
- providing evidence to Parliament’s Energy Security & Net Zero Committee
With broad expertise on net zero, climate and environment policy in the University, our Institute for Policy Research have a specialist Net Zero Policy Fellowship Programme designed to enable senior government and third sector policy and decision-makers to access tailored expertise. During academic year 2025/26, this has included senior policymakers from Defra, DESNZ and Ofgem.
Leading through research
Sustainability is a research strength for the University which is reflected across the range of disciplines in which we work: from environmental science and sustainable engineering to policy innovation and the social dimensions of sustainability change. This breadth allows us to advance knowledge while also translating research into practical solutions that support resilient communities, responsible industry, and a healthier planet.
Our research centres and institutes bring together our expertise to collaborate internally, with other Universities, research bodies, businesses and local organisations to increase our impact.
Pioneering for sustainability
This year, our researchers have:
- setup a new collaboration to see if a basic income can protect rainforests
- developed a new technology to break down forever chemicals
- discovered a new, cleaner way to recycle Perspex
- obtained funding to explore 'whole systems' approaches to reach net zero
In the news
In the past year, our researchers have published studies that advance understanding of sustainability challenges which can help direct and prioritise action, including:
- Arctic seas are getting louder as ice melts
- Bristol’s ethnic minority residents are 40% less likely to visit local parks
- climate change is destabilising the political, economic, social, and technological systems necessary for effective health governance
- parents want to take climate action but struggle to live low carbon lives
- starting university boosts recycling and greener travel
- hairdressers could be a secret weapon in tackling climate change
- traditional masculine norms are a barrier to consuming less meat
Researchers leading the way
Conducting environmentally sustainable research
University of Bath signed the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research & Innovation Practice in 2025, joining other top institutions in committing to deliver research that makes a positive impact but not at the expense of the planet.
In the past year we have achieved and actioned the following in support of this commitment:
- developed a data dashboard to share segmented carbon footprint data so that departments can identify issues, target actions and track progress
- run training sessions on the concordat and sustainable procurement
- all labs are now using our new chemical inventory system, allowing users to efficiently and safely manage, store and procure chemicals, while also enabling greater sharing and waste reduction
- collaborated with GW4 universities (Bristol, Exeter and Cardiff) to share best practice, challenges and solutions for sustainable research practice
- participated in a project led by the University of Exeter to develop a tool to allow researchers to ‘cost’ the carbon impact of their research project
- continued to embed sustainability in lab practices through LEAF (Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework): 39% labs are now taking part and 15% have achieved certification
Improving the sustainability of our operations
Our sustainable campus
- We've continued to carry out improvements and upgrades to our campus infrastructure to save energy, including improving metering and data systems, and upgrading lighting.
- We launched a new online tool, Warp It, to enable staff to more easily share and reuse University furniture, supplies and equipment.
- Each year we collaborate across the city of Bath in a Pack for Good campaign to collect donations when students move out, diverting them from waste and to the British Heart Foundation instead. This work has now generated over £1 million.
- This year we'll print 44,000 fewer student prospectuses by swapping to a digital-first approach with flyers instead of heavy books. This provides environmental benefits by reducing print and mailing needs and responds to prospective student demand for visible institutional action for sustainability.
New plans and policies
- A new strategic University Travel Plan has been developed to reduce car journeys to campus. This year, we carried out a consultation with staff and students which has helped to identify priorities, immediate opportunities and resource needs.
- We’ve updated our IT Equipment Policy to include a ‘one device’ approach and longer replacement cycle enabling us to reduce the purchase of laptops, tablets, and therefore cut IT-related emissions by around 135 tCO₂e per year.
- This year we’ve rolled out our Sustainable Procurement Policy by beginning to engage with our suppliers, assessing tenders for environmental and community impacts and benefits, and starting to develop training for purchasers.
Sustainable spaces
- Managing our space efficiently offers many benefits for sustainability. Through data‑driven planning and responsible resource allocation, we can reduce new building requirements, minimise waste, support wellbeing, and ensure campus spaces evolve to meet academic, social, and environmental needs.
- We're now applying our new Sustainable Building Standard to the development of a large, new campus residence project as well as the refurbishment of an existing city residential building.
Reducing our carbon footprint
- Our total emissions have decreased by 16% compared to last year, to 107 ktCO₂e. We continue to take action to reduce it through a combination of technical, behavioural and policy interventions.
- We're reviewing our net zero targets and progress, and have developed a new Energy Strategy to launch in 2026.
- We are also undertaking a comprehensive review of campus heat decarbonisation opportunities in order to create a Decarbonisation Plan with a roadmap, timescales and resource requirements.
- We are investing to help decarbonise and secure our energy supply: we have moved our electricity tariff to UK renewables and are investigating opportunities to generate more energy on campus (last year we generated 3.3% of our total energy use).
Our motivated community
Our staff and student community are motivated and engaged to act on sustainability and this year we were delighted to celebrate over 450 staff and students for their sustainability efforts at our annual awards event.
Inspiring departmental action
In 2025, 14 staff teams achieved certification in Green Impact, a programme launched that year to empower colleagues to improve sustainability in the workplace. Now, 35 departments have a team taking part, representing 61% of the University.
They have taken a range of actions, including:
- eight teams have held digital declutter days, helping to save energy be reducing excess file storage and deleting over 8,000 emails
- seven departments have committed to serving only vegan or vegetarian food at their catered events
- nine departments have demonstrated their commitment to sustainability with a public statement signed by senior management
- four departments have undertaken an audit of sustainability education in their programmes to help identify opportunities to develop or enhance the sustainability education they provide
Increasing visibility
We know that our community of staff and students care about sustainability (92% of people say they do) and want to take action, but not everyone feels empowered to do so. We continue to develop support to enable this and over the past year have focused on increasing visibility for sustainability at Bath that has included launching a new set of webpages, social media channels and a newsletter.
Building on these foundations, we wanted to create excitement, spark curiosity and inspire action and so this year have embarked on an exciting and disruptive sustainability campaign, Re:Imagine Sustainability. We will unite student and staff creativity to co-create an inspirational sustainability installation on campus in 2026.
Encouraging connection
This year we opened a new Community Garden designed to allow staff and students to connect together and with nature, while celebrating local and seasonal produce in an accessible setting.
We have embedded sustainability in student support activities by:
- piloting an interest-free loan to students for a Bus Pass to encourage sustainable travel
- championing active travel in wellbeing initiatives
- providing holiday activities to encourage students to stay at Bath, supporting a reduction in travel
- training up student money advisors as energy champions
Students' Union
Alongside the University, our Students’ Union (SU) have made progress this year in empowering students to drive sustainability, strengthening student-led decision making, and embedding sustainable practice across their operations. They have developed the next multiyear SU Sustainability Action Plan, informed by student priorities, feedback and insights, which will launch by the end of the academic year. It includes actions and guiding principles for every department to ensure sustainability is embedded throughout the SU.
Student-led direction
- Sustainability was a Top Ten priority this year through which the SU pushed for University targets and action on carbon emissions and sustainability education
- They have introduced the SUstainable SU Student Forum, creating a channel through which students can directly inform and shape SU and University sustainability work
- They have continued to lobby on Fossil Free Careers, following the adoption of a democratically established standpoint at the student-led forum, SUmmit, in 2025
Sustainable operations
- In 2025, the SU launched a new online shop and have prioritised sustainable options where possible, such as clothing made with organic cotton or recycled materials.
- As part of their commitment to sustainable food provision, the SU provided a food pantry to ensure no student had to choose between food and their education
Enabling student action
- New Sustainable SU webpages have been created to improve visibility and make it easier for students to get involved
- The Sustainability Badge has been relaunched to support and recognise student groups integrating sustainability into their activities
- Student groups with a focus on sustainability, including ethical, political and recreational groups, sports teams and volunteering projects, are supported to deliver activities with impact
An external view of our progress
Rankings and league tables provide a snapshot of progress at a point in time and highlight areas which external stakeholders identify as key.
We ranked 56th in the 2026 QS World Sustainability Rankings, out of more than 2,000 universities, and 19th in the UK. We scored highly in each of the three performance categories of Environmental Impact, Social Impact and Governance. We scored over 90% in eight of the nine categories.
Our 2025-26 People and Planet University League Table ranking was 77th, representing a fall from 41st the previous year but putting us in a comparable position to our 2022-23 result of 74th. We scored particularly well in Sustainability Staff and Engagement with each scoring 100%, 95% in Education, and 80% for Environmental Policy.
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