King’s Climate & Sustainability Action Plan

Our Climate & Sustainability Action Plan (CSAP) sets out 14 key impact areas to guide the university’s approach to sustainability and climate change, informed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which set targets for holistic and sustainable global development by 2030.

The CSAP was first published in February 2023 to set out our ambition to address sustainability and the climate emergency. In February 2024, we published a second iteration as part of an annual review undertaken in late 2023 and early 2024 managed by the King’s Climate & Sustainability team.  

A structured annual review process has been established along with continuous community input to ensure that objectives, targets and KPIs are up to date and our principles on climate and sustainability are embedded effectively in activities across King’s. The CSAP was reviewed alongside other key documents across the University to ensure alignment across all plans and integration of relevant targets.

The CSAP will continue to be reviewed throughout the year as part of the annual review process, and a third iteration will be published in February 2025. We invite you to feedback on our plans, raise new ideas, challenge and collaborate with us. Please contact us at sustainability@kcl.ac.uk.  

The first iteration report was developed by the King's Climate & Sustainability team in consultation with students, staff, alumni and members of King’s Climate Action Network (King’s CAN), key deliverables include:

• At least a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, across energy use, business travel, our supply chain, commuting and waste
• Ensuring sustainability and climate education is embedded into all King’s degree programmes by 2026
• A four-fold increase in climate and sustainability research activity by 2029
• Increasing investments with socially responsible benefits to 40% by 2025
• Development of guidance on internal carbon pricing, to ensure we can better align financial decision-making criteria with King’s climate action goals

The plan prioritises absolute reduction of carbon emissions over offsetting, which compensates for emissions by funding equivalent carbon dioxide savings elsewhere, and carbon removals, which includes natural strategies like tree restoration and agricultural soil management. That is why we have now set a 2030 net zero target to give us more time to focus and invest in direct emissions reductions on our estate and in our operations.

14 key impact areas guide King’s approach to sustainability and climate change

Our progress so far

King’s has been taking action on climate and sustainability for many years. In 2021, we fully divested from investments in fossil fuels almost two years ahead of target and we have successfully reduced emissions under the university’s direct control by more than half in the last 15 years.

All of this happened while King's estate size was growing, and our student numbers and research volume was increasing.

It was achieved through actions such as improving energy efficiency and maximising space utilisation of our existing estate, as well as encouraging behaviour change through our Sustainability Champions programme.

2024 update

Progress has been monitored across all sections of the CSAP and substantial advancements have been made in certain key areas, including establishing a thorough climate & sustainability governance structure with a Steering Group and a number of different Working Groups. Changes mostly focus on reorganisation and updating outdated target dates, and key changes include the introduction of a model for Education for Sustainability at King’s, updates to incorporate the ongoing sustainable travel policy review and the development of a net zero business case. The Carbon Sinks section has been renamed to Biodiversity and a new section on Philanthropy has been added. The carbon reduction targets have been moved into the relevant sections of the Actions Table for clarity. For transparency, a sticker has been used to indicate various major changes to this iteration of the CSAP.

Some targets in the CSAP were set for 2022-23. Where the target has been met, the action has been updated. Where the target has not yet been met but is still relevant, the date has been updated to this academic year or a more realistic timeframe. These challenges will be further discussed in our 2024 reporting. Some additional targets have been added and/or achieved due to the nature of this fast-changing environment.

King’s key targets (including emissions, water and waste reduction) remain a priority area of focus and are due to undergo a thorough review and analysis in 2024-25 to assess whether we remain on track to meet our ambitions, followed by a regular review of the overall net-zero targets for the University. The development of the net zero business case in 2024-25 as well as the work by the newly created Carbon Offsetting Group to develop a reliable approach to carbon offsetting for the organisation will also bear an impact on this.

As a signatory to the global Race to Zero for Universities and Colleges, we will continue to make a difference through our supply chain and investments, by engaging our community in behaviour change and through the work we collectively do to achieve our sustainability targets.

Find out more about King's Climate & Sustainability governance