Are you interested in how Aarhus University can reduce its CO2 emissions? Join us on 29 January at a meeting of AU's sustainability network to discuss the university's draft climate strategy.

2020.01.23 | Signe Opstrup

Graphics: The four focus areas in AU's upcoming climate strategy are: building operations, transportation, procurement and waste.

The internal consultation period for the draft version of Aarhus University’s climate strategy for the period 2020-2025 has begun. The strategy includes an ambitious goal to reduce CO2 emissions from the university's operations and is organised in terms of four main focus areas: building operations, transportation, procurement and waste.

If you are an AU employee or students, we invite you to join us at the meeting on 29 January to discuss the four focus areas in small groups and contribute your input. The contributions from the meeting will be summarised and presented to AU’s board together with the consultation responses from other parts of the university. The climate strategy is expected to be approved by the Board on 1 April.

Read more about the strategy and the consultation process. 

Practical information about the meeting

The meeting is for AU’s sustainability network, but all employees and students are welcome. Participation is free of charge.

• Time: Wednesday 29 January 16:00 -18:00.
• Venue: Building 1910, room 217.
• Programme: See the detailed programme for the meeting on the website.

Want to join the sustainability network?

If you are interested in making AU more sustainable and want to be part of AU’s sustainability network, then join the Facebook group #AUSustainability today.

Sign up here

The network is open to all students and employees at Aarhus University who want to share their knowledge, ideas and inspiration for how AU can become more green and sustainable. Read more and sign up here.

Facts about the climate strategy

The overall goals of the draft climate strategy for AU are:

• The goal for 2025 is to reduce the university's CO2 emissions by 35% against a 2018 baseline.
• The goal for 2030 is to reduce the university's CO2 emissions by 57% against a 2018 baseline.
• The goal for 2040 is a CO2-neutral university.

The climate strategy has four focus areas. The sub-goals for the individual focus areas are as follows:

Building operations

• Reduce energy consumption in AU's buildings by 2% annually
• More sustainable energy in AU's energy mix
• Reduce the university's water consumption
• DGNB certification of buildings with special focus on climate
• Experiment with new solutions to reduce the university’s climate footprint on AU’s campuses

Transportation

• Reduce climate footprint from air travel by 30% in 2025 against 2020 baseline
• Reduce the number of vehicles owned by AU by 30% against 2018  baseline
• Phase out diesel and gas-fuelled motor vehicles by 2025; from 2020, purchase only vehicles that run on sustainable fuels
• Encourage staff and students to commute to and from AU using sustainable forms of transportation

Procurement

• Promote a holistic approach to the procurement of goods and services
• Reduce CO2 emissions in connection with delivery of goods to AU
• Introduce sustainability requirements for the canteens and reduce their climate footprint
• Prolong the lifetime and encourage the reuse of the university’s furniture
• Make green investments

Waste

• Produce less waste – especially residual waste
• Provide facilities for daily users of the university to separate waste into at least five fractions and continue to separate into min. 16 fractions overall
• Recycle/reuse 40% of AU's waste

Read more about the strategy. 

Additional information

Read more at au.dk/sustainability.
If you have any questions, you are welcome to send an email to Susanne Søes Hejlsvig at sush@au.dk.