TV

Skip to main navigation Skip to main content
The TV
×
Sustainability

Sustainability League Table Submissions

People & Planet League Table

People & Planet is a UK based independent University League table focusing on universities sustainability performance. We have provided information on this page to demonstrate the comprehensive range of evidence that People & Planet review to assess universities’ performance. The information provided is up to date and reviewed monthly to ensure transparency and clarity for those wanting to understand further how universities are ranked.

Policy and Strategy

Publicly Available Strategy

The TV has a publicly available environmental policy here. This policy was updated in 2023 and signed by Professor Mark E. Smith CBE President and Vice Chancellor of the TV. The policy will be reviewed annually as part of our Environmental Management System review and Sustainable Development Goals reporting.

The University has a publicly available Sustainability Strategic Plan 2020-2027 (updated from the 2020 – 2025 plan in 2023). Read the strategic plan here.

SMART Targets

The University has set SMART targets in key areas of sustainability.

· Construction & Refurbishment

· Emissions & Discharges

· Community involvement

· Biodiversity

· Waste management

· Travel and Transport

· Sustainable procurement

· Water

Staff & HR Working in Sustainability

Governance - Senior Staff

Senior Vice President (Academic) Professor Phillip Wright is the Sustainability Strategic Plan Owner and the TV’s Sustainability Champion.

Dedicated and Expert Staff

The Sustainability Strategywithin the TV is delivered by the following:

The Sustainability Strategy Boardchaired by Philip Wright, Senior Vice President (Academic) with members of the University Executive Board.

The Sustainability Implementation Groupchaired by Prof. AbuBakr Bahaj with the Sustainability Strategy Goal Champions and Goal Leads and representatives from faculties and professional services.

The Institutional Strategy Delivery Team

Executive Sponsor/Sustainability Strategic Board ChairPhillip Wright- Senior Vice President (Academic) p.c.wright@soton.ac.uk

Executive Director, Estates & Facilities -Kevin Argent k.argent@soton.ac.uk

SIG ChairAbuBakr Bahaj- Prof. of Sustainable Energy a.s.bahaj@soton.ac.uk

Goal 1:achieve net zero emissions for Scope 1 & Scope 2 by 2030. ChampionKevin ArgentExecutive Director Estates and Facilities k.argent@soton.ac.uk

Goal 1:achieve net zero emissions for Scope 1 & Scope 2 by 2030. LeadAdam Tewkesbury- Assoc. Director, Environment & Sustainability a.j.tewkesbury@soton.ac.uk

Goal 2: Measure our total emissions footprint and set targets for Scope 3 emissions reductions. ChampionWendy Appleby- Vice President (Operations) w.j.appleby@soton.ac.uk

Goal 2: Measure our total emissions footprint and set targets for Scope 3 emissions reductions. LeadsEychelle Heywood-Head of Procurement,John Preston-Prof. in Rail Transport e.m.heywood@soton.ac.uk j.m.preston@soton.ac.uk

Goal 3:Set a business travel emissions reduction target and implement through an appropriate action plan. LeadAdam Tewkesbury- Assoc. Director, Environment & Sustainability a.j.tewkesbury@soton.ac.uk

Goal 4: Ensure that sustainability is a part of every University education programme by 2025. ChampionDeborah Gill- Vice President (Education) d.p.gill@soton.ac.uk

Goal 4: Ensure that sustainability is a part of every University education programme by 2025. LeadSimon Kemp- Prof. Fellow, Education, Geography & Environmental s.kemp@soton.ac.uk

Goal 5: Make sustainability a cornerstone of UoS' research and societal impact. ChampionMark Spearing- Vice President (Research & Enterprise) s.m.spearing@soton.ac.uk

Goal 5: Make sustainability a cornerstone of UoS' research and societal impact. LeadJohn Holloway- Assoc. Vice President (Interdisciplinary Research) j.w.holloway@soton.ac.uk

Goal 6:Implement a sustainable and ethical investment policy. Champion Executive Director of Finance – Planning & Analytics

Goal 6:Implement a sustainable and ethical investment policy. LeadMark Shutler- Director of Finance - Planning & Analytics m.c.shutler@soton.ac.uk

Estates and FacilitiesSarah Puckett-Environment and Sustainability Manager sarah.puckett@soton.ac.uk

Faculty of Environment and Life Sciences RepresentativeFelix Eigenbrod- Professor of Applied Spatial Ecology f.eigenbrod@soton.ac.uk

Faculty of Social Sciences RepresentativeDenise Baden- Prof. in Sustainable Business/ Personal Chair d.a.baden@soton.ac.uk

Faculty of Medicine RepresentativeEdd James-Prof. in Cancer Immunology e.james@soton.ac.uk

Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science RepresentativeAndy Cruden- Associate Dean (Academic Infrastructure) a.j.cruden@soton.ac.uk

Faculty of Arts and Humanities RepresentativeAnna Collar- Lecturer in Archaeology a.collar@soton.ac.uk

Public Policy Southampton RepresentativeWassim Dbouk- Research Fellow w.dbouk@soton.ac.uk

SUSU RepresentativeEd Brooker- SUSU President president@soton.ac.uk

In attendance:

Tara Chilcott,SMP Sustainability Programme & Senior Project Manager, Strategy Office (Strategy Delivery and Transformation Department) t.l.chilcott@soton.ac.uk

Rahul Jain,Data Analyst (Sustainability) r.jain@soton.ac.uk

Ellis Ridett,Senior Research Assistant ellis.ridett@soton.ac.uk

Craig Hutton,Director Sustainability & Resilience Institute cwh@geodata.soton.ac.uk

Siobhan Balfour,Environment & Sustainability Programme Administrator s.balfour@soton.ac.uk

The Sustainability Delivery Team

Adam Tewkesbury, Associate Director Environment & Sustainability a.j.tewkesbury@soton.ac.uk

I oversee the sustainability and environmental performance of the University estate, with a focus on decarbonization and delivering progress against the goals of the University Sustainability Strategy. I manage transport activities across the University, including the University Travel Plan and associated operational contracts, with targets to reduce car use and increase travel via sustainable modes.

Sarah Puckett, Environment and Sustainability Manager sarah.puckett@soton.ac.uk

I manage the University's Environmental Management System, which improves legal compliance, reduces environmental risk and monitors environmental performance. I help to drive sustainable initiatives across the University to help to reduce our environmental impact and create positive change.

Mike Travers, Waste, Recycling, Cleaning and Landscaping m.travers@soton.ac.uk

I’m responsible for managing waste and recycling and external cleaning across the university. The waste and recycling team consists of a team of 13 staff based at Highfield campus and the halls of residence. I also oversee our Landscape Maintenance Team, who manage the vast array of natural areas across the estate.

Felice Foscheri, Catering Manager f.s.foscheri@soton.ac.uk

Responsible for all of the catering and catering outlets across the campuses. The team are continually making changes to improve sustainability, take measures and review practices to reduce waste, manage our procurement processes to support and protect the environment.

Hannah Jezard, Hospitality Operations Manager h.l.jezard@soton.ac.uk

My role has evolved from operations management of delivered catering, conferencing and events to also assisting with overseeing the various retail outlets on Highfield Campus and the wider business, identifying areas where we can reduce our environmental impact.

Amanda Boorer, Landscape Services Manager a.boorer@soton.ac.uk

Responsible for overseeing the Landscaping Team, who look after the green areas of our University estate. The team work hard to ensure that the university grounds are enjoyable for all staff, students and wildlife.

Elliot Prescott, Transport Manager e.prescott@soton.ac.uk

The Sustainability & Resilience Institute (SRI):

Craig Hutton, SRI Director, ch9@soton.ac.uk

Craig provides the strategic leadership of SRI, as it aims to tackle the most critical challenges facing society and our environment through evidence-based solutions and collaborative work.

Lindsay-Marie Armstrong, SRI Deputy Director (Research & Enterprise) l.armstrong@soton.ac.uk

Lindsay oversees the SRI’s Renewable Energy & Decarbonisation theme, providing insight and experience into cross-sector engagement with industries as we collaboratively work towards decarbonising the regional economy.

Simon Kemp,SRI Deputy Director (Education & Sustainable Development Goals) s.kemp@soton.ac.uk

Simon leads the SRI education and student experience work, providing a progressive approach to sustainability through the undergraduate and postgraduate (taught and research) curricula across the whole university, focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Jon Lawn, SRI Collaboration Manager J.P.Lawn@soton.ac.uk

Jon promotes internal collaboration and networking between TV academics, manages SRI’s external partnerships, and oversees SRI’s funding opportunities.

Alice Brock, SRI Sustainable Development Goals Officer a.brock@soton.ac.uk

Alice is the university’s dedicated project officer for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She oversees the University’s monitoring and reporting to the Sustainability League Tables and supports the integration of EDI within sustainability.

Grace Compton, SRI Specialist Policy Office G.P.Compton@soton.ac.uk

Grace provides TV researchers with timely policy analysis and insight focused on sustainability at local, national, and international levels. She also supports TV researchers in engaging with policy makers, including the sharing of evidence and research with policy makers.

Lou Payne, SRI Communications & Marketing Manager l.s.payne@soton.ac.uk

Lou provides strategic communications and marketing oversight for the Institute, as well as day-to-day input to SRI’s sustainability communications, both internally and externally, to raise awareness of, and increase engagement in, the work being undertaken.

Ellie Pun, SRI Coordinator e.v.pun@soton.ac.uk

Ellie provides administrative support to SRI and assists with the running of SRI’s meetings and events.

SUSU (Students' Union)

Liz Harris- Head of Sustainability liz.harris@soton.ac.uk

Liz leads SUSU’s sustainability work; embedding environmental and ethical initiatives in the Student Union’s operations, supporting student officers, reps and student societies on sustainability activities, and challenging the University to be ambitious in its delivery of the Sustainability Strategic Plan and all other environmental initiatives.

All Staff

The TV has launched a Sustainability Community of Practice open to all staff members, each faculty has a representative in the Sustainability Implementation group allowing staff to engage in improving the environmental performance of the University.

All staff inductions include a compulsory Southampton Sustainability Solutions e-module ; This e-module explains sustainability, introduces the SDGs, gives examples of sustainability work happening across the university, and helps participants make sustainability lifestyle choices. They will also meet the sustainability team, key players across the University and come away with a great understanding of sustainability and why it matters.

The TV’s Sustainability and Resilience Institute’s membership is open to all members of staff to engage with sustainability work across the university.

Environmental Auditing and Managing Systems

Accreditation to an External Environmental Management System

The TV has an externally validated annually updated ISO14001 Environmental Management System read here .

We are proud that as part of our commitment to continual improvement of our environment and sustainability work, we report and discuss our progress on this Policy and associated targets on an annual basis to our University Executive Board (UEB) (the most senior university governance board) which is chaired by our President and Vice-Chancellor Prof Mark E Smith. The most recent report took place in March 2023. Not only is this a requirement of our ISO14001 EMS, it also demonstrates how embedded our environmental and sustainability work is within our university governance systems.

In August 2023, we achieved recertification for a further 3 years against the ISO14001:2015 standard. This also brought SUSU within the scope of the EMS certificate for the first time.

Our externally validated EMS is entered into HESA.

Ethical Investment and Banking

The TV has an active, robust and publicly available Ethical Investment Policy reported on at the senior level here . This policy was updated in 2021 and approved by the University Council, Finance Committee and authored by Julie Fielder, Director of Finance – Planning & Analytics. This policy applies to the full scope of institution’s investments and is integrated within our overall investment policy.

Our Commitment to Screen out Specific Sectors

Our Ethical Investment Policy details the excluded/ restricted areas of investment.

Transparency and Accountability

Our Ethical Investment Policy is easily accessible and publicly available.

Our annual list of investments is easily accessible and publicly available. See the list of investments here.

Our list of committee members that oversee investments is easily accessible and publicly available. See the committee members here.

Ethical Careers and Recruitment

Ethical Careers Policy

Our active and publicly available ethical careers policy can be found here and was updated in 2023 and signed off at a senior level.

Our Commitment to Screen out Specific Sectors

Our careers policy details the exclusions and restrictions for recruitment opportunitieswith us.

Transparency and Accountability

Our careers staff structure is available here including information about staff roles and contact details.

Managing Carbon

Carbon Management Plan

The TV has carbon management at the heart of our Sustainability Strategic Plan. The most recent edition of the plan for 2020 – 2027 can be found here this is an extension of the 2020 – 2025 plan which can be found here.

We use our 2005/2006 emissions for scope 1 and 2 as our baseline.

Our carbon reduction target is scope 1 and scope 2 emissions to meet net zero by 2030 with an interim target of 1,888 tonnes CO2e by 2027/2028.

Senior Vice President (Academic) Professor Phillip Wright is the Sustainability Strategic Plan Owner and the TV’s Sustainability Champion. The Sustainability Implementation Group meets every month to monitor and co-ordinate progress towards meeting these goals and is currently chaired byProfessor AbuBakr Bahaj. Progress is then reported to the University’s Sustainability Strategy Board every quarter.

The TV produces annual emissions reports to monitor our carbon management plan and sustainability strategic plan targets here.

We report our carbon emission data to the Higher Education Statistic Agency (HESA). This information is publicly available on the HESA website and is updated annually, explore the data

Sustainable Travel Policy

The TV updated its Travel Plan in 2024, find the most recent version of the Travel Plan here.

Accommodation Emissions

The University includes accommodation emissions in our emissions calculations as seen in the technical report for our emissions reporting . We report these emissions to HESA and these figures are used in our calculations for parity across our reporting.

Workers' Rights

Electronics Watch

The TV is part of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) and is therefore a Consortium Affiliate of Electronics Watch. Electronics Watch is an independent monitoring organisation which works to achieve respect for labour rights in the electronics industry. See evidence of our membership

Can't Buy My Silence Pledge

The TV has signed the ‘Can’t Buy My Silence’ Pledge, committing to: “not using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence people who come forward to raise complaints of sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct, or other forms of bullying.” See the United Kingdom Pledge List .

Sustainable Food

Sustainable Food Policy

The TV has a sustainable food policy found

Community Food

The TV provides space for and supports community food projects as can be seen here.

Staff and Student Engagement

Staff and Student Engagement Strategy

Within our Sustainability Strategic Plan we outline how we engage with our staff and students on sustainability at the university and our progress towards sustainable development. Our staff and student are at the core of all we do and we offer every opportunity to engage with our Sustainability Strategic Plan.

Each faculty has a representative as part of the Sustainability Implementation Group responsible for implementation of the plan. The president of the student’s union is also a member of this group. Annual reports on our emissions are publicly available and yearly updates and consultations are held for staff and students for feedback and transparency.

The most recent edition of the Sustainability Strategic Plan for 2020 – 2027 can be found here this is an extension of the 2020 – 2025 plan which can be found here.

Student and Staff Engagement Actions

The TV actively supports an environment themed week, ‘Green Week’ a jointly organised week by the Sustainability Community of Practice and Southampton University Student’s Union to see the events hosted in 2024 please see here . Events were run by staff, students and external individuals and groups, all events were open to all staff and students.

Staff Inductions

All students and staff are asked to complete the Southampton Sustainability Solutions e-module. This e-module explains sustainability, introduces the SDGs, gives examples of sustainability work happening across the university, and helps participants make sustainability lifestyle choices. They will also meet the sustainability team, key players across the University and come away with a great understanding of sustainability and why it matters. This e-module is part of staff induction and new student induction, it is also available for all students on the Southampton Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard) so students can access it at any point of their time at the university.

Image of Southampton Sustainability Solutions Module on TV internal SharePoint

We work in close partnership with our Southampton University Students’ Union (SUSU). The commitment of SUSU to this area is demonstrated by their investment in the recruitment of a new Head of Sustainability, ensuring sustainable practices and engagement take place across the Union.

SUSU have an elected to ensure clear routes for student engagement across all of our Faculties.

Student Representation on University Committees

The President of the Student Union sits on the University Executive Board, the Sustainability Implementation Group and numerous other governance bodies.

Student and Staff Led Mapping, Auditing and Tracking of Actions Completed to Promote Environmental Sustainability Annually

The TV conducts various auditing, mapping and tracking of our environmental sustainability actions and promotion. See our reports here.

The University also conducts internal tracking and mapping activities led by staff and students, all compulsory education modules are mapped to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and all research output is mapped to the Goals annually.

Education for Sustainable Development

University Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development

Our commitment to ESD is very clear and forms Goal 4 of our six Sustainability Strategy goals, which is signed off at University Executive Board with a member of UEB as the University Champion. The ESD Goal 4 'Ensure Sustainability is embedded across all our programmes by 2025' also sit as one of the five University Education Strategic Major Programmes, with senior responsibility sitting with our Vice-President Education Prof Deborah Gill.

We have developed our own TV specific ESD framework and strategy. Our strategy is clear through Goal 4 of our Sustainability Strategy supported by a set of time-specific targets. As part of this we have developed our own University-wide Curriculum Mapping framework where every Undergraduate and Postgraduate programme is mapped to the UN SDGs. This has led to a set of University-wide School and Programme ESD documents outlining where the SDGs are delivered, followed by School & Programme specific ESD curriculum development student and staff workshops.

Progress on the integration of ESD into the curriculum is reported on a monthly basis to the University Sustainability Implementation Group, Sustainability Strategy Group, and University Strategic Major Projects Group. This is then reported to University Executive Board (UEB) and University Senate. The ESD programme has a senior leader on UEB in the form of the Vice-President Education Prof Deborah Gill, with Prof Simon Kemp as the University Lead in Education for Sustainable Development responsible for the delivery of the integration of ESD across the whole of the university curriculum.

All academic staff can contact Prof Simon Kemp as the University Lead in Education for Sustainable Development for bespoke support in integrating ESD into their curriculum and staff can also access the Southampton Sustainability Solutions online module for training purposes. All Schools hold individual training workshops led by staff, including Prof S Kemp, and student representatives where ESD integration into their programmes will take place. These workshops will involve the School Head of Education, Programme Leads, Senior Tutors, elected student representatives and any students who wish to participate.

The University is a learning setting for the development of real-life sustainability skills. For example, the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Environmental Law and Management module uses the University campus and specific schools for the student assessed submission of an Environmental Legal Compliance Register, and an Initial Environmental Review report. The Biology programmes use the campus for biodiversity appraisals. The School of Management run assessments where students conduct sustainability reviews for local SMEs close to campus. All students can also take part in extra-curricular activities such as Bioblitz and Waste Wars which are held on campus and in University Halls of Residence.

In 2023 we launched the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute, listen . The podcast is the next step in sustainability learning and skills for students, staff and alumni. Built entirely around a truly equal collaborative approach between undergraduate studetns and staff, students are given the opportunity to contribute to the podcast through selecting and conducting their own research into the full spectrum of sustainability issues that cover each and all of the environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions that make this such a fascinating and rewarding problem to explore. The Meliora Podcast is truly liberating for our students and the sustainability research work that goes into the Higher Education community. Students have an equal platform to academics, transforming the scale of reach of sustainability knowledge exchange outside of universities, due to their fantastic work being freed from the physical restraints of the classroom and assignment portals to be shared across the world for anyone, for free.

Energy Demands, Waste and Recycling, Carbon Reduction and Water Reduction

These aspects of our sustainability performance are calculated directly by People & Planet using data from our Estates Management Record which is publicly available on the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) website.

QS World University Rankings: Sustainability

The TV has climbed 54 places in the 2023 edition of theQS World University Rankings for Sustainability - placing it 13th in the UK and 34th in the world.

TheQS World University Rankings: Sustainability, which are in their second year, look at how universities are addressing the world’s greatest environmental and social challenges. Over 1,400 institutions from around the world are assessed in the rankings, including 93 in the United Kingdom.

For one metric, Health and Wellbeing, the University achieved an impressive second in the world ranking. This metric assesses an institution’s commitment to improving the health and wellbeing not only of its students, but society more widely.

For Environmental Impact, Southampton climbed 98 places to 32nd in the world for this area. This recognises the impact of the institution’s education, research activities and operations towards an environmentally sustainable future.

The University also climbed 28 places for Social Impact, putting it in the top 20 universities in the world. This encompasses what the university is doing to boost employability, equality, education, health and wellbeing, and knowledge sharing.

The University has recently launched a new Sustainability and Resilience Institute. The institute aims to bring together colleagues from disciplines across the University to work with experts from around the world to tackle the most critical challenges facing our society and environment.

Times Higher Education Impact Rankings

The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking is a global sustainability league table using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as its framework to assess Universities and Higher Education Institutions on their sustainability impact. In the 2023 edition of the THE Impact Ranking the TV climbed over 100 places, demonstrating our global sustainability profile.

Notably the TV was ranked 69th in Sustainable Development Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals, highlighting our incredible global and international sustainability work, education and operations. Key to the TV's success was the publication of our annual Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 found here.

It also achieved top 101 to 200 rankings in Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16).

Professor Phillip Wright, Senior Vice-President and Sustainability Champion at the University said: “Universities have a key role to play in building a better, fairer and more sustainable future through our research, teaching and engagement activities. It’s encouraging to see our partnership work receive particular recognition, as we believe that it is by working together with others that we can make the biggest impact.”

THE evaluated 2,152 universities from 125 countries and regions to produce the overall Impact Ranking for 2024. The rankings demonstrate universities’ commitment to addressing the world’s most pressing challenges, including environmental sustainability, social inclusion, economic growth and partnerships.

Last year the University launched its(SRI), which brings together academics and students from different disciplines to address the sustainability challenges facing our society and environment.

Professor Craig Hutton, Director of the SRI, said: “The SRI aims to improve how the TV shares its progress on the SDGs and its sustainability research with the public. The 2024 THE Impact Rankings, led by Alice Brock, SDG Officer, working closely with Molly Simmons, PhD Researcher, and with contributions from across the University, has shown the excellence of our work and provides a platform from which to progress further.

Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the SRI and University lead for sustainability education, said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at the TV. It is crucial that our students have a good understanding of the challenges facing our society and environment and are empowered to make a difference. Our scores in education in the Impact rankings demonstrate this.”

Privacy Settings