The climate emergency was acknowledged first in December 2016 by the government and the scientific community; this is the first time the term “emergency” has been used; formerly global warming/climate change were the most common words. However, this new adjective adds a sense of urgency for responding to a long-term problem, which can inevitably bring catastrophic consequences to our lives if urgent and transformative action is not taken.

In September 2019 Lancaster University Students’ Union (SU) declared a climate emergency and the University declared a climate emergency only in November 2020.

This is too little too late, and the Students’ Union and the University should implement their activities/ strategies in order to make a significant contribution to the cause.

Some examples of actions that the SU and the University can take in order to respond to the climate emergency are:

• The Students’ Union and University need to publish a clear and wide-reaching action plans for addressing the climate emergency. These must include plans for carbon emissions reduction and embedding environmental sustainability practices across all activities and operations.
• Plans must include the allocation of sufficient budget and resource to ensure targets can be met and existing sustainability projects can be scaled up.
• Enhance and expand the current growing space at the “ECOHub” for growing organic, 0-miles fruit and vegetables to sell on Campus, in town or door-to-door with a veggie box scheme. This will reduce the Carbon footprint caused by the shipment of fruit and vegetables from other countries, the use of pesticides/herbicides and reduce atmospheric CO₂ through good agricultural practices and re-planting of trees.
• Installing a production kitchen at the ECOHub barn, which will contribute to the creating a self-sustaining Circular Economy. Currently student and staff members have to use their own kitchen to process fruit and vegetable produce from the site which cannot be sustained in the long term.
• Hire a full-time permanent EcoHub project supervisor. Only short-term contracts have been available so far, which means discontinuity of people involved in the project and the consequent disruptions to the on-going initiative. Having a permanent person who takes care of the site, will unlock the full potential of the EcoHub.
• Increase biodiversity on campus. More investments should be made for rewilding Campus/the surrounding area and this should involve the community. Nature-based activities have been proven to increase the level of well-being, mental health and personal satisfaction.
• Engage academics and research projects. The EcoHub barn should become a fully functional learning space, which students can use for practical sessions and their learning activities. This means the barn should be upgraded with innovative and sustainable building and design features.
• Work towards a Circular Economy and elimination of material waste. Building upon the existing #DontDitchIt project, there should be concerted efforts to eliminate or reduce the consumption of single-use materials on campus. Student-led projects should be developed to collect and segregate plastic waste from the University campus and local natural environment. This material could be donated to Precious Plastic Lancaster for the production of 100% recycled products, manufactured by a local sustainable social enterprise.