Submitted by Susannah Cook on Fri, 2023-06-23 10:32
The Council has approved a new Environmental Policy for the University.
The Policy has been produced to more effectively support the requirements of gaining Environmental Management System (EMS) accreditation for the University under ISO 14001. It is entirely isolated from the University's Environmental Sustainability Strategy, Policy and Vision. The University has already been working within the framework of the Policy. Through an EMS the Environmental Policy will enable the University to better manage the environmental impacts of its estate and operations in a responsible and sustainable way, comply with the Environmental Management Standard ISO14001, attain third-party audits for ISO14001 certification and achieve EMS accreditation in the coming year (2024). The Policy is available at All Policies and Strategies | Sustainability (cam.ac.uk).
An EMS is a set of processes and practices that enable an organisation to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency. The Policy outlines the University’s management approach to:
- Protect the environment;
- Avoid, prevent and minimise pollution;
- Fulfil its environmental compliance obligations and other requirements;
- Ensure that sustainable development underpins all that it does.
A certified EMS will enable the University to monitor, control, and continuously improve its environmental performance and provide a framework for the improvement benchmarks for different environmental aspects (in line with the targets set in the Environmental Sustainability Vision, Policy and Strategy).