Modelling corporate climate action – Tend to your house first

The five universities of the ATN are well on their way to meeting their sustainability targets, with a steady reduction in carbon emissions indicating that our universities are well on track in reducing their environmental footprint.

In a national first for the higher education sector, at the 2009 national ATN conference , the ATN collectively set a target to reduce carbon emissions by 10% over the next four years, fulfilling a 2008 pledge to adopt energy targets as part of their ongoing commitment to sustainability. In addition, the Network set a longer term target for 2020 of a 25% reduction in emissions below 2007 levels.

In the 2008-09 period, ATN universities achieved almost a 7% reduction on 2007 emissions, putting us well on target to meet the 10% reduction set for 2012-13.

As recent press has highlighted, the path to meeting targets is not an easy one. Apart from the obvious positive results, what else is significant about this achievement and what are the lessons others might take from the ATN experience?

First and foremost, tackling the issue as a Network enables us to not only assemble the best expertise in sustainable campuses nationally, but also to allow for variation across individual institutions and focus, rather, on an overall ATN result.

Importantly, however, there was an early recognition that target setting needed to be within the context of an evolving climate change policy. The ATN took the position that it is preferable to achieve emission reductions on campus first, particularly through energy saving measures, before considering the purchase of Green Power or carbon offsets. Such a strategy makes our universities entirely responsible for their own emissions and offers a better return on investment than a higher target achieved through purchase of offsets would do.

With the current uncertainty around what measures Australia will ultimately take to improve our sustainability practices, the ATN approach puts us well on track to meeting emissions reduction targets, independent of shifting government policy.