Report Overview
Introduction
This is the University of Melbourne’s first report under our new Sustainability Plan 2030, launched in May 2022. The report sets the tone for our ambitious, collaborative approach to advancing sustainability, and tells the story of how our University community mobilised for sustainability action in 2022. As we implement the Sustainability Plan 2030 over the next eight years, our reports will track progress towards achieving each of the targets set out in the plan.
We aim to provide our community with clear, honest and transparent commentary on the University’s sustainability performance. This report is informed by Reporting Principles from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and draws upon the draft standards on sustainability-related financial disclosures and climate- related disclosures developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). We will continue to evolve our approach to reporting to ensure that future reports accurately capture progress towards sustainability targets.
Sustainability Plan 2030 (SP2030) defines our sustainability ambitions over three intersecting domains, reflecting the University’s core purpose and commitment to our people, our partners, and our place in the world. Read more about SP2030.
2022 at a glance
Amplifying action through campus and communities
51st globally in the inaugural Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university sustainability rankings
Launched the Sustainability Plan 2030
Expanded indirect (Scope 3) emissions to include our entire procurement expenditure of over $1 billion
Net zero emissions from electricity for the second year
Hosted 139 sustainability or climate-themed events, and ran the Green Impact program for a successful sixth year
Mobilising knowledge for action
Developed sustainability- focused curriculum content in 4 new subjects and courses
Joined the Reach Alliance, a global partnership to mobilise sustainability knowledge for action
Embedded sustainability as a key touchstone in the University’s new Advancing Students and Education strategy
Founded the Biodiversity Council, to be incubated at the University
Our flagship research initiative Melbourne Climate Futures hosted the inaugural Climate Futures Summit
Walking the talk in our operations
Shared in a national procurement award for developing a sector-wide response to Modern Slavery
Founding member of the Nature Positive Universities Alliance
Supported affected communities, including University staff and students, during the October 2022 Goulburn Valley floods
Issued our inaugural Green Bond under our new Sustainable Financing Framework
Opened the Student Precinct Project– working towards being a single use plastic free hub
Report scope
Sustainability must be deeply embedded in everything we do at the University. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting frameworks and definitions of sustainability cover a broad scope of environmental, financial and social sustainability themes, including diversity, inclusion, employee wellbeing, gender equality, and health and safety. This report focuses on environmental sustainability and does not address these other areas of sustainability in detail as they are embedded in other institutional strategies and reports, including the University of Melbourne Annual Report.
Several strategies addressing the broader spectrum of sustainability are in place or currently under development. Together with our Sustainablity Plan 2030 (SP2030), these strategies guide and enhance the University’s overall social, economic and environmental sustainability:
Indigenous Strategy 2023–27 (under development)
Sustainable Investment Framework (to be updated in 2023)
Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global framework designed to accelerate sustainability and climate action by 2030, encouraging unified action by governments, corporations and civil society towards a more socially just and sustainable future. We are currently exploring our impact in relation to the SDGs to understand and leverage our contribution to the Global Goals. This report highlights links between the SDGs and work under way across the University. In 2023, we will mature our reporting approach to more closely align with this framework.
Sustainability governance
The University’s sustainability governance structure supports coordinated implementation of our strategy, providing accountability and keeping us on track towards achieving our sustainability goals
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The Sustainability Advisory Group (SAG) was convened in 2022 to guide development and implementation of the University’s Sustainability Framework. SAG builds on the work of the previous Sustainability Executive, which provided leadership to deliver the University’s sustainability agenda under the Sustainability Plan 2017–2020. SAG membership includes senior University executives, academic and professional staff, and student representatives. The group meets quarterly and provides recommendations on emerging sustainability risks, issues and opportunities to the Chief Operating Officer, Paul Axup.
We gratefully acknowledge the University’s former Chief Operating Officer, Allan Tait, for his leadership in progressing our sustainability agenda and actions over a number of years, culminating in the release of the ambitious SP2030.
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We have two dedicated sustainability teams at the University, responsible for strategy and operations respectively:
The Sustainability Strategy Team, established and led by Katie Mee, coordinates implementation of SP2030, including reporting and governance
The Sustainability Team, Campus Management, led by Sue Hopkins, leads campus operational sustainability and internal engagement and communications, including waste, water, energy, biodiversity, transport and sustainable event management.
Sustainability governance structure
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Four faculties have established leadership roles to embed sustainability into their strategies and business planning:
In 2021, Faculty of Science appointed Associate Professor Robyn Schofield as Associate Dean, Environment and Sustainability
In 2022, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences appointed Dr Forbes McGain as Associate Dean, Healthcare Sustainability and Dr Eugenie Kayak as Enterprise Professor in Sustainable Healthcare in the Department of Critical Care, Melbourne Medical School
The role of Assistant Dean, Sustainability was established in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, with Dr James Helal appointed early in 2023
The role of Associate Dean, Sustainability was established in Melbourne Graduate School of Education, with recruitment commencing in early 2023.
The University’s Sustainability in Curriculum Fellows, established in 2019, continued in their roles in the Faculties of Arts, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Faculty of Business and Economics, and the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.
Our flagship research institutes also continued to advance sustainability and climate-focused research in 2022. These include Melbourne Climate Futures (MCF), the Melbourne Energy Institute (MEI), the Indigenous Knowledges Institute (IKI), the Melbourne Social Equity Institute (MSEI), and the Melbourne Centre for Cities (MCC). These institutes have been included amongst the priority areas for philanthropy and giving, to support the embedding of sustainability in our research programs. Read more about sustainability and climate-focused research institutes and initiatives in Priority Area 5. Discovery.
Associate Professor Robyn Schofield
Associate Dean, Environment and Sustainability
Faculty of Science
Dr Eugenie Kayak
Enterprise Professor in Sustainable Healthcare
Department of Critical Care, Melbourne Medical School - Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Dr Forbes McGain
Associate Dean, Healthcare Sustainability
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Dr James Helal
Associate Dean, Sustainability
Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning
Our operating environment
We live in an era of ever-increasing complexity. Climate change is intensifying social and ecological crises across the world, making urgent action to address a range of sustainability issues more critical than ever. As a University we are committed to sustainability, not just through emissions reduction goals, but in everyday operations, research, and through teaching and learning.
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Unprecedented natural disasters in some of the world’s poorest nations made climate justice a key issue at the UN COP27 climate summit in November 2022. Our flagship climate research institute, Melbourne Climate Futures (MCF), connects and amplifies the depth and breadth of University of Melbourne research to address such issues. MCF’s work is complemented by the University’s Melbourne Energy Institute, which is developing pathways for Australia to achieve net zero emissions.
The COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference, held in December 2022, delivered a landmark agreement between 188 countries to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. The University is spearheading a range of biodiversity initiatives, positioning us as global leaders in the race to save threatened wildlife and plant species. Read more about our efforts in Healthy ecosystems
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The newly elected Federal Government strengthened Australia’s climate and sustainability commitments, passing the Climate Change Bill 2022 which sets emissions reduction targets at 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050. Australian universities have a vital role to play in developing the workforce, research and technologies that will deliver a zero-carbon economy.
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Climate change has increased the risk of bushfire, flooding, drought, rising sea levels and extreme heat across the country, including the devastating floods which affected University communities in regional Victoria in 2022. These risks increasingly threaten the operations, assets and infrastructure of our campuses and the safety of the University community. We are taking several steps to ensure we are prepared and protected. Read more about our efforts under Climate Resilience).
In 2022, we commenced work to embed climate change risk into centralised risk management processes, such as our organisational risk register. We also developed a formal Environmental Management System (EMS) that outlines strategies to address pollution and other environmental risks. The EMS is compliant with requirements of the international standard for Environmental Management – ISO 14001:2015.
Material sustainability issues for the university community
As governments, businesses and the broader community accelerate climate action, sustainability is rapidly becoming one of the defining priorities of our era.
Young Australians aged 15–30 identified action to limit global warming as the most important priority for our country. In a 2022 Times Higher Education survey, 87 per cent of prospective international students agreed that universities have an important role to play in enhancing the sustainable citizenship of their students. This was reflected in the release of the inaugural Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university sustainability rankings, in which the University of Melbourne received an overall ranking of 51.
In 2022, 1,136 students and staff took part in the biennial Sustainability Survey, which is designed to gauge participants’ awareness of sustainability-related issues, priority areas for action, and satisfaction with initiatives in place. Based on this survey, the University community’s top five priorities for sustainability action are outlined below. Satisfaction with the University’s efforts in each area was varied. In some cases, this was because students and staff were not aware of work already under way in each area, highlighting the need to enhance communications and engagement relating to sustainability initiatives. We will use results from the survey to evaluate existing sustainability programs, develop future initiatives, and track our progress towards targets in SP2030.
Top 5 priorities
listed by University
Students and Staff
Reducing the University’s carbon footprint
Top priority 67%
Satisfaction 34%
Improving waste reduction,
reuse and recycling
Top priority 58%
Satisfaction 56%
Increasing ethical purchasing and addressing modern slavery in the supply chain
Top priority 40%
Satisfaction 22%
Raising awareness of sustainability issues within the University community
Top priority 39%
Satisfaction 54%
Using the campus as a testing ground for sustainable activities
Top priority 37%
Satisfaction 38%
How we’re addressing these priorities
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2022 highlights
We achieved zero net emissions from electricity for the second year
Our Smart Campus Energy Upgrades program continued, with approximately $6 million invested in LED lighting and chiller upgrades, on-site solar PV installations, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning optimisation. Our scope 1 (direct) emissions are primarily generated from use of natural gas for heating and hot water. To reduce these emissions, we are developing a program to replace gas infrastructure with equipment that uses electricity.
In 2023:
We will develop a carbon offsets procurement strategy, informed by current research and taking into account recent local and global carbon offset reviews and standards
The Smart Campus Energy Upgrades program will continue. Plans include building optimisation and chiller plant upgrade works across 10 buildings, delivering approximately 3300 MWh savings per annum, and solar rooftop arrays for at least five buildings. We are also assessing the feasibility of energy storage options at our Dookie and Parkville campuses.
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2022 highlights
The University led development of a sector-wide response to mitigating modern slavery risk, receiving a joint national sustainability award
We spent $3.65 million with social and Indigenous suppliers, including almost $900,000 on professional services and over $700,000 on grants
Sustainability clauses and performance indicators were embedded in large tenders, including fleet, grounds, waste and cleaning tenders
Suppliers were required to adhere to the University’s Supplier Code of Conduct, available on our public webpage, and included in tender documents.
Read more about our contribution to a just and circular economy
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We are developing guidelines and processes to support the development and curation of living labs that make meaningful contributions to priority areas of the plan.
Targets and metrics
SP2030 does not outline a detailed list of actions for achieving our targets and aspirations. When it comes to sustainability, setting specific actions when a strategy is introduced risks missing opportunities to raise ambition in response to emerging trends and technologies. Work is ongoing to determine the most appropriate indicators to report progress against each target, which we will outline in detail in the 2023 Sustainability Annual Report, to be published in May 2024. In this respect, the structure of SP2030 enables greater responsiveness to new ideas, initiatives and innovation over the course of its delivery, and supports transparent and rigorous reporting.
