Keele University is among a select group of universities and research institutes who are the first to pledge to make their research as sustainable as possible as part of a new national agreement. 

The UK research and innovation sector have co-developed a voluntary environmental sustainability concordat – an agreement representing a shared ambition for the UK to continue delivering cutting-edge research, but in a more environmentally responsible and sustainable way. 

The concordat has been launched today, with Keele one of fifteen initial signatories pledging to use the most sustainable approaches and practices it can when conducting research, such as reducing energy consumption, reusing equipment, and recycling waste products, as well as carefully considering travel associated with research. 

Scientific research is at the forefront of finding solutions to the climate crisis and its impacts on our health. Yet all types of research – from lab, to computational, to field – have an impact on our environment.  

The concordat aims to tackle this by encouraging researchers in all settings, whether they’re based in laboratories, in the field, or conducting desk-based research, to assess the environmental impact of their work and consider making more environmentally sustainable choices when planning research or bidding for funding. 

The concordat also supports the wider ambition set out by the UK Government to achieve net zero by 2050, with Keele and the other signatories and supporters committing to progressively embedding environmental sustainability into all research and innovation practices. 

Professor Mark Ormerod, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at Keele, said: “Embedding environmental sustainability into all aspects of our research and innovation practices is an important part of our institutional commitment to seek to embed environmental sustainability in all aspects of our operations.   

“The new environmental sustainability concordat led by UK research organisations, including Wellcome, UKRI, and Cancer Research UK, is an important step for the HE sector and UK research and innovation to create meaningful and long-lasting impact to reduce the environmental impact of carrying out research. I am delighted that Keele University is one of the initial signatory organisations of this important new environmental sustainability concordat."