Natural environment
THE PARIS AGREEMENT AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The United Nations conference on climate change held in France in 2015 concluded with the Paris Agreement, which represents the adoption of an agreement that aims to strengthen the global response to climate change and the capacity of states to address the effects of climate change. In addition, in September 2015, world leaders defined a set of global goals, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as part of a new sustainable development agenda (2030 Agenda). Among the 17 goals approved by the United Nations, there is Goal 13: Climate Action, which seeks to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
CATALAN CLIMATE ACTION SUMMIT
On 14 May 2019, the Government of Catalonia held the first Catalan Climate Action Summit, a meeting with different institutions and organisms to agree on a roadmap, in the short and medium term, to address the policies of climate change mitigation and adaptation. This summit enable to define a set of commitments and initiatives that contribute to making a faster, fairer and more efficient transition to a carbon-neutral economy. These commitments have been made by the Government and by institutions from different economic and social sectors, including the higher education and research sectors.
URL'S COMMITMENT TO THE CLIMATE
In 2021 URL formed the Working Group for the Decarbonization of the university with representatives of its institutions. The aim of this group was to draw up the Climate Action Roadmap for Ramon Llull University, which included the university's commitments and forecasts for reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as the actions to be taken in the short and medium term to achieve them.
One of the first steps planned by the URL Plan was the adherence to the commitments presented by the Catalan Government within the framework of the first Catalan Climate Action Summit, both those of a general nature, applicable to any type of organization, as well as those of a sectorial nature, which define initiatives of a specific nature for some economic and social sectors.
During the 2023-2024 course, the Working Group has focused on other Sustainable Development Goals in order to develop a Climate Action Roadmap.
In order to combat climate change and continue working at a more sustainable level, URL is committed to the following objectives:
- Achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, with offsetting of non-reducible greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including significant direct (scope A1) and indirect (scope A2 and A3) emissions.
- Reduce GHG emissions to 2030 by 75% compared to 2019 emissions. Include emissions from energy consumption currently incorporated into the inventory (A1 and A2).
- Reduce indirect emissions associated with mobility to 2030 by 33% compared to 2019 emissions. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to effectively implement the inventory of significant indirect emissions (A3).
In this line, the Working Group has carried out the following actions, which have a direct impact on the reduction of emissions:
- Replacement of the building management system with improved efficiency in air conditioning and lighting.
- Installation of photovoltaic panels for self-consumption of electricity in several centers.
- Replacement of conventional lighting with LED lighting in all buildings.
- Purchase of 100% renewable electricity in most of the University's facilities.
- Expansion of the emissions inventory, with significant emissions from the purchase of bicycles and services.
- Annual update of the URL's participation in the Voluntary Impacts Voluntary Agreements Program.