About our Green New Deal
Goldsmiths is working to address the climate emergency and ensure a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Primary page content
The climate crisis is one of the biggest threats our society faces. Goldsmiths has a responsibility to reduce its own impact on the environment and has an important role to play in supporting climate action through its research and teaching.
Following a staff and student-led campaign calling for a Green New Deal at Goldsmiths, the College declared a climate emergency in August 2019 and committed to becoming a carbon-neutral organisation by 2025.
Working with our community to tackle the climate emergency
Our students and staff have been instrumental in driving action on climate change. You can find out what’s happened so far in the timeline below.
November 2018
- Green New Deal for Goldsmiths petition circulates among students and staff
January 2019
- Goldsmiths Students' Union unanimously passes a motion in support of the Green New Deal
March 2019
- Goldsmiths UCU branch unanimously passes a motion in support of the Green New Deal, calling for carbon neutrality by 2030
August 2019
- Green New Deal staff and student campaign is taken to new Warden
- Goldsmiths declares a climate emergency and commits to being carbon neutral by 2025
September 2019
- All beef products removed from sale in campus outlets
- 10p levy introduced on bottled water and single-use plastic cups on campus
- Green New Deal Group set up to coordinate College’s response to climate emergency
October 2019
- Four workstreams established and advertised to Goldsmiths staff and students
- College switches to 100% renewable energy supplier
- Full review of our scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions begins
- Ecological review of Goldsmiths campus and Loring Sports Ground is undertaken
December 2019
- Goldsmiths’ endowment fund divests from companies making more than 10% of their profits from the extraction of fossil fuels
February 2020
- Work begins on a dye and pigment garden on campus
March 2020
- Goldsmiths is approved as a pick-up point for vegetable bag scheme run by Lewisham not for profit organisation Lee Greens, opening in July 2020
July 2020
December 2020
- Environmental Enhancement action plan and campus Biodiversity Management Strategy released
January 2021
- Ecologists begin regular visits to campus as part of Biodiversity Management Strategy
May 2021
- Goldsmiths is awarded grant from Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to install a new low-carbon heating network on campus
Who is involved in the Green New Deal
Since September 2019 we have operated a cross-College Green New Deal Group. It is chaired by the Warden and includes representation from Goldsmiths staff, Goldsmiths Students’ Union, trade unions and Goldsmiths Racial Equality Group (GREG).
We run four workstreams for staff and students interested in contributing ideas to the Green New Deal project. These focus on the themes of carbon reduction, environmental enhancement, research and curriculum.
How we’ll measure our progress
From 2022 our Green New Deal Steering Group will publish an annual report that measures our progress against our action plans and uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals to track our progress.