UCL joins U7+ university climate pledge

Ahead of COP26, UCL has joined leading universities from around the world to open up new opportunities for students to help tackle the climate crisis. The presidents of 22 leading universities from 11 countries made the pledge at the U7+ Presidential Summit, where they also welcomed the final reports from student delegates taking part in the U7+ Worldwide Student Forum, led by UCL. Over the past five months, the Forum has brought student voices to the centre of creating solutions to the climate emergency in a way that takes the interests and rights of future generations into account. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to two actions agreed when the Alliance was conceived: increasing students' access to courses related to sustainability, climate and biodiversity; and introducing ambitious targets to reduce and offset university-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This month UCL launched its new climate campaign, Generation One, which calls for staff, students and the public to make a pledge to tackle sustainability challenges. On 23 October UCL students also took part in a Youth COP event. UCL President & Provost, Dr Michael Spence, said: "We recognise the devastating impact that climate change can have on the most vulnerable communities.