About the Net Zero Tracker of Australian universities by 100% Renewables

Net zero pledges are rapidly gaining momentum as more organisations and governments commit to meeting ambitious emission reduction targets to address climate change.

Universities are among the leading sectors in responding to climate change, and we have been tracking the commitments of Australian universities for several years.

• In Aug 2017, we published our first blog post outlining several universities’ demonstrated sustainable energy leadership across research, fossil fuel divestment and action to reduce their own carbon footprint.
• Then in 2020, we published a blog post series on a number of sustainability leadership topics that are relevant to the tertiary education sector. This showcased 14 leading universities that had made commitments to significantly reduce their emissions and increase their use of renewables. Our series also reported on a range of related achievements such as Green Star buildings, signatories to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fossil fuel divestment commitments.
• From 14 universities in 2020, the number of universities committing to ambitious emissions reduction and increased renewable energy use list grew to 23 by the time of our Feb 2021 update.

This article revisits the ambitious climate action commitments made by universities and provides an updated list. We also include here the latest update on the Race to Zero for Universities and Colleges and report on Australian universities’ performance in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2022.

Free Guide – Net Zero Tracker and THE Impact Rankings of leading Australian universities 2022

Leader board of Australian universities

The list of leading Australian universities with ambitious emission reduction and renewable energy goals has increased from 23 to just 24 at this update, with Victoria University entering into a renewable energy PPA from mid-2021 and setting near-term net zero and climate positive goals.

Out of the 24 universities in the ambitious commitments list, 15 have committed to 100% renewable energy by or before 2030, 17 have committed to carbon neutrality by or before 2030, and 2 have committed to net-zero GHG emissions targets by 2050.

 

Universities’ net zero, emission reduction and renewable energy commitments

 

List of ambitious climate action commitments by Australian universities

No	State	University	Renewable energy Commitment	Carbon neutrality commitment
1	ACT	Australian National University		Committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to below zero by 2030 Interim target of net-zero emissions by 2025
2	NSW	Australian Catholic University	100% renewable electricity by July 2021	Net zero emissions by 2030
3	NSW	Charles Sturt University	100% clean energy by 2030 Use 100 per cent renewable electricity from 2022	First university to obtain NCOS/Climate Active-accredited carbon neutral status in 2016
4	NSW	Macquarie University	University's total greenhouse gas emissions cut by 92 per cent, with the campus' electricity being sourced from Snowy Hydro from 1 July 2020	Aim of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 40% by 2030
5	NSW	University of New South Wales	Expand onsite solar energy generation to 1.2 MWp by 2022 Purchase 100% renewable electricity by 2020	Reduce net emissions from building energy use to zero by 2020 Reduce total Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in line with a 1.5°C global warming scenario
6	NSW	University of Newcastle	Deliver 100% renewable electricity across our Newcastle and Central Coast campuses from 1 January 2020	Achieve carbon neutrality by 2025
7	NSW	University of Sydney	100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025	Net zero emissions by 2030 Zero waste to landfill by 2030
8	NSW	Western Sydney University	100 per cent renewable energy by 2026	Achieve carbon neutrality by 2023 and be climate positive by 2029
9	QLD	CQ University	50 per cent of its energy for its Queensland campuses sourced from renewable solar from 2021	Aim at reducing carbon emissions
10	QLD	Griffith University	50% of our campus energy will be supplied from renewable sources by 2022	45-50% emissions reduction against a 2010 baseline by 2030 Net zero emissions by 2050
11	QLD	Queensland University of Technology	Reduce energy consumption by 10% from 2017/18 levels of 0.57 GJ/m2 (GFA) by 2023 Maximise deployment of solar PV on campus by 2022	Carbon neutral by 2030 (Scope 1,2,3 emissions) Scope 1 and 2 emissions to zero by 2023
12	QLD	University of Queensland	100% renewable energy from 2020 via its own solar farm	Reduction in the university's carbon footprint
13	QLD	University of the Sunshine Coast	Large-scale solar PV and thermal storage at Sippy Downs campus	Carbon neutral by 2025
14	SA	Flinders University	Powering its campuses and facilities with 100% renewable energy from campus-based solar arrays and a local windfarm, achieving net-zero emissions from electricity from 2021	Become carbon positive
15	SA	University of Adelaide	2MW of renewable energy installed by 2020 15% reduction in Energy intensity (GJ/GFA m2) by 2020 (2014 baseline)	Net zero emissions by 2050
16	TAS	University of Tasmania	Ensure efficacious energy management and contribute to the Tasmanian Government 2022 target to be a 100% renewable-energy-powered State	Carbon neutral certified since 2016 Committing to full divestment by the end of 2021
17	VIC	Deakin University	100% renewable electricity by 2025	Carbon neutral by 2025 Carbon negative by 2030
18	VIC	La Trobe University	The new solar panel system to generate 2.5 MW of clean, renewable electricity as well as renewable energy projects, energy efficiency improvements and waste reduction on campus.	Carbon neutral by 2029 and our regional campuses are set to become carbon neutral by 2022
19	VIC	Monash University	100% renewable energy by 2030	Net zero carbon emissions from Australian campuses by 2030
20	VIC	RMIT University	100% renewable energy from 2019	Carbon neutral organisation by 2025, covering scope 1 (direct), scope 2 (indirect) and scope 3 (upstream and downstream supply chain) emissions
21	VIC	Swinburne University of Technology	Procure 100 per cent renewable electricity from 1 July 2020.	Carbon neutral by 2025
22	VIC	University of Melbourne	Achieve zero net emissions from electricity by 2021 Reduce electricity demand by 18,350 megawatt hours per year by 2020 through on-campus energy projects.	Carbon neutral certification by 2025 and climate positive status by 2030 Achieve carbon neutrality before 2030
23	VIC	Victoria University	Procure 100% renewable electricity on 1 July 2021	Achieve Net Zero by 2025 Achieve Net Positive outcomes by 2028
24	WA	University of Western Australia	100% renewable energy by 2025	Energy carbon neutral by 2025

 

Race to Zero for Universities and Colleges

Race To Zero is a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, and investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth. The campaign mobilises a coalition of leading net zero initiatives, representing 1,049 cities, 67 regions, 5,235 businesses, 441 of the biggest investors, and 1,039 Higher Education Institutions.

Since 2019, over 500 higher education institutions representing 4.6 million students, and 60 networks representing more than 17,000 colleges and universities, have committed to be net-zero by 2050 at the latest through the Race to Zero for Universities and Colleges.

Below are the Australian universities that are signatories of the Race to Zero for Universities and Colleges, in alphabetical order.

 

No	State	University
1	ACT	Australian National University
2	NSW	University of New South Wales
3	NSW	University of Technology Sydney
4	NSW	Western Sydney University
5	TAS	University of Tasmania
6	VIC	Deakin University
7	VIC	RMIT University
8	VIC	Swinburne University of Technology
9	VIC	University of Melbourne
10	VIC	Victoria University

 

Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2022, 17 Australian universities were ranked in the top 100 universities globally, and an Australian university tops the overall rankings! Western Sydney University ranks #1 out of 1,406 universities from 106 countries and regions across the globe in the University Impact Rankings of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022, scoring 99.1 out of 100 for their social, ecological and economic impact.

100% Renewables is proud to have worked with WSU on its net zero emissions journey, as well as with University of Newcastle (#30) and University of the Sunshine Coast (#31) over the past few years.

The list of Australian institutions in the top 100 global universities for their THE Impact Ranking for 2022 is shown below.

 

Rank	State	University	Score
1	NSW	Western Sydney University	99.1
15	NSW	University of Technology Sydney	95.6
19	VIC	La Trobe University	94.9
22	VIC	RMIT University	94.7
25	TAS	University of Tasmania	94.3
30	NSW	University of Newcastle	93.8
31	QLD	University of Sunshine Coast	93.6
42	VIC	Monash University	92.9
52	NSW	University of Sydney	92.2
55	NSW	University of New South Wales	91.9
57	ACT	University of Canberra	91.7
67	NSW	Charles Sturt University	90.7
70	NSW	University of Wollongong	90.4
79	NSW	Macquarie University	89.7
79	VIC	Victoria University	89.7
83	QLD	Central Queensland University	89.4
92	QLD	Griffith University	88.9

 

As well as the overall ranking across all Sustainable Development Goals, we have looked at the top-100 rankings of Australian universities across SDGs that are particularly relevant in terms of their response to climate change. Of particular note here is the #1 ranking for University of Tasmania for climate action globally, with University of Newcastle, University of the Sunshine Coast, Western Sydney University and Monash University all ranking in the top 25 globally.

 

University	Overall Impact ranking	Affordable and Clean Energy	Sustainable Cities and Communities	Climate Action
Western Sydney University	1	23	15	23
University of Technology Sydney	15	14
La Trobe University	19		74	77
RMIT University	22	37	42	74
University of Tasmania	25	98	60	1
University of Newcastle	30	16	24	16
University of the Sunshine Coast	31			22
Monash University	42	28	15	25
University of Sydney	52		13
UNSW Sydney	55	17	42	39
University of Canberra	57
Charles Sturt University	67	98	46	14
University of Wollongong	70	71	67
Macquarie University	79	93	70
Victoria University	79
Central Queensland University	83
Griffith University	92		54
The University of Queensland		84	76
Queensland University of Technology			70
James Cook University			73
Federation University Australia			87
Australian National University				70
The University of Western Australia				59

 

100% Renewables are experts in helping universities with their climate action and net zero strategies. Please download our university capability statement if you’d like to find out more about how we can help you.

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