News and Events
How and why we must clean up our planet
How and Why we Must Clean Up Our Planet is the subtitle of a new book we’re publishing this year, Earth Detox, in which author Julian Cribb explains the threat to life on Earth from man-made chemicals. The book is one of several new titles in our environmental science publishing range, which includes scientific research by authors at the forefront of climate science to general books from some of the world’s highest-profile climate activists.
“Our learners and researchers are highly engaged in safeguarding the future of our planet, and we are committed to being part of a positive, sustainable future in which they, and the rest of society, can thrive,” says Helen Griggs, our global director for environment, procurement and supply in our operations team. “We’ve made a clear commitment working sustainably and ethically by signing the UN Global Compact, which includes reducing our environmental impact across all areas of our operations.”
We have set science-based targets to reduce our carbon footprint and commit to measuring ourselves against the three scopes of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Our achievements so far include installing green roofs and solar panels on our buildings in Cambridge. We are getting recognition for our efforts. This year three parts of our organisation won Green Impact Awards, and last year we won the first ever International Publishers Guild award for sustainable publishing.
One of our initiatives is reducing our use of paper and plastic. By the end of 2022 we will have moved 50 journals to online only format and have already switched from polywrap to FSC approved paper wrapping on 40% of the printed journals we distribute. We are working with the Book Chain Project to capture detailed information about the environmental impact of our supply chain and identify areas for collective improvement.
As well as changing how we do things, we are promoting our environmental ambitions to our people, customers and partners around the world. We are in a unique position to amplify the latest research into environment issues and shape the learning of future generations. Climate activist Greta Thunberg says we “must unite behind the science”.
Research by textbook industry analysts Navstem and EduDataHub reported that one in three publications being used by students enrolled on courses studying climate change are published by Cambridge University Press (37 per cent). Our commitment to open access publishing has made textbooks and research available to a wide audience, and we have brokered just under 1,000 new partnerships. A sample of our latest climate change and environmental publishing is available to all to read for free.
We have the opportunity to help spark interest in children and young people through our priority on ‘greening the curriculum’. We are working closely with naturalist Mary Colwell, the Natural History Museum and many others on a potential new GCSE in Natural History. The course would offer learners the opportunity to engage with nature through observation and fieldwork, in urban or rural settings. If approved by the DfE and then the England exams regulator Ofqual, the new qualification could be taught from as soon as September 2023.
A GCSE in Natural History would reconnect our young people with the natural world around them. Not just because it’s fascinating, not just because it’s got benefits for mental health, but because we’ll need these young people to create a world we can all live in, a vibrant and healthy planet. – Mary Colwell, naturalist
Some of those young people could become the next generation of academics and researchers working out how best to tackle climate change.
Read more:
Submission of the first United Nations report on our commitment to sustainability
Cambridge teachers on sustainable projects and initiatives in school | #CambridgeSustainability
Vice-chancellor makes a zero carbon commitment
