Keele University and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council are working together on climate sustainability to reduce the region’s carbon footprint.

Keele’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Trevor McMillan recently met with Councillor Simon Tagg,
Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, and Councillor Trevor Johnson, cabinet member for environment and recycling, to support the council’s carbon neutral commitment and the development of a carbon neutral borough plan.

Figures show that in the last decade the district has more than matched national reductions in CO2 emissions, and aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Earlier this year Keele became one of the first UK universities to declare a ‘climate emergency’, reaffirming its position and commitment to being a world-leader in sustainability. The University has also announced an ambitious climate emergency target to be carbon neutral by 2030, and is supporting the council’s own climate emergency declaration.
Keele University launched its new Institute for Sustainable Futures last year to drive research into issues such as climate change, food security and clean energy on a local, national and global scale. As well as research, the Institute supports sustainability-focused undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, in Environment and Sustainability and Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology.

Keele was also named as one of the Top 30 universities in Europe for its social and economic impact in the 2019 Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings, which recognises universities across the world for their social and economic impact, based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and was ranked number 1 in the 2018 UI Green Metrics World University rankings for its green setting and campus infrastructure, and has been in the Top 30 globally for the last three years.