Get Ready For the Green League
The Green League 2008 has been compiled and the data sent off to Times Higher Education for publication, now scheduled for 3 July.
Elle Gray, former student P&P campaigner, now Student Union President at Portsmouth, presents VC John Craven with Portsmouth’s Green League Certificate.
Last year People & Planet shook up the HE sector by publishing the UK’s first league table to rank universities according to environmental performance. This year’s league promises to have a similarly dramatic effect as it reveals the progress made by the sector in the fight to become sustainable.
People & Planet responded to comments made by staff and students when developing this year’s methodology. This led to a number of significant changes — the inclusion of extra areas such as ethical investment, a more comprehensive assessment of some criteria and awarding minus points to those institutions whose environmental performance has worsened.
People & Planet collected some of the information for this year’s Green League by questionnaire and are pleased to report that the response rate was high. Similarly there was an increased amount of information available from Estates Management Statistics with all universities providing HEFCE with more data. This means most institutions will be graded this year.
The Green League has clearly created an impetus for better reporting of environmental information — therefore increasing accountability and transparency. Whether it has also helped create a greener HE sector will be revealed on 3 July.
You can find out where your current or future uni came by checking Times Higher Education or our Green League 2008 webpages on 3 July. Alternatively, if you attend the Summer Gathering, you can join in the Green League excitement and get your university’s score revealed at the event.