Somerville, represented by the Conference of Colleges, joined stakeholders around the city in a new partnership to reduce Oxford’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2040 at the Zero Carbon Oxford Summit last week.
A new Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership was formed at the summit on February 4th. The initiative brings together representatives from the University, the Conference of Colleges (a body representing the collegiate university), Oxford Brookes, the County Council, and some of the City’s largest businesses.
Professor Nick Eyre, Professor of Energy and Climate Policy, University of Oxford, will act as Scientific Advisor to the group. On the day, he addressed the Summit confirming that the 2040 net zero date was technically achievable and ambitious for the city. A detailed roadmap to net zero emissions for Oxford has been commissioned and will be published in summer 2021.
Somerville’s membership of the partnership through the Conference of Colleges updates our existing pledge to cut emissions to net-zero as fast as possible with a new deadline of 2040.
Efforts we have already undertaken towards this aim include forming a Sustainability working group; improving lighting, heat and waste disposal; starting the process of divesting from fossil fuel in favour of new green investments; and creating a plan to increase biodiversity on our college site.