Environmental sustainability at UNSW
UNSW has a long history of environmental stewardship across research, learning and teaching and campus operations and our students and staff are actively engaged in environmental and social issues. We recognise that we are uniquely positioned to contribute to solving environmental challenges through teaching, research, thought leadership and demonstrating leading practices on our campuses.
Our approach to addressing our key environmental issues is set out in our Environmental Sustainability Plan 2019-21.
Sustainability on campus
Our campuses form part of the daily lives of some 62,000 students than 6,700 staff. In many ways we are like a small city, and UNSW is committed to continuously improving environmental performance across university operations – from the way we plan, construct, operate and power our buildings, reduce and manage waste, make purchasing decisions and travel to and around our campuses.
Sustainability in learning, teaching and research
UNSW offers a range of educational programs that equip our graduates to address environmental sustainability issues across fields including renewable energy, climate change, built environment, biological, earth and environmental sciences, business, engineering and law.
UNSW is renowned for ground-breaking research in environmental sustainability-related fields as diverse solar energy, sustainable materials technology, biodiversity conservation and climate science. UNSW research contributes to the understanding of sustainability challenges; and development of new technologies and strategies to address those challenges.