Oxford’s £850k Carbon Cost

A FOI request submitted by the Tab reveals the shocking amount Oxford spent offsetting emissions

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Oxford University has spent £847,380 offsetting its carbon dioxide emissions from 2013/2014 according to documents obtained by the Tab. Over the past four years the cost of offsetting has totalled a staggering £3.4 million.

This year’s sum represents 69% more than the block grant the university gave OUSU and is equivalent to £39 for every student at Oxford.

As a major public body Oxford University has been mandated to enroll in the government’s CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) Energy Efficiency Scheme since 2009/2010 or risk being fined. As part of the scheme the University must commit to improving its energy use and to offset emissions at cost of £12 per ton.

Oxford: not actually this green

Figures released in the scheme’s 2013/2014 report suggest that the University Cambridge is the UK’s most polluting university, emitting 87,712 tonnes of CO2 last year. Imperial, Edinburgh, Oxford and Manchester round out the top five. Heythrop is the UK’s least polluting university, its emissions of just 436 tonnes are less than 0.5% those of Cambridge.

The Tab estimates that UK universities and colleges have spent an astounding £27 million offsetting emissions last year, equivalent to the fees of over 3,100 students.

Oxford’s colossal carbon bill does not include the cost of emissions by individual colleges. Using aggregate data the Tab estimates that colleges spent a total of £450k offsetting their emissions last year, meaning the total cost of the CRC scheme to Oxford students is £1.3 million a year.

Over the past four years of the scheme Oxford’s emissions bill has only fallen by 1.6% leading to Oxford being ranked 38th in the most recent CRC league tables of UK universities.

The cost has proved divisive among students. One Keble geography fresher was unconvinced, “I’m not exactly sure how efficient a use of money it is. Surely it would be better to make sure that carbon wasn’t produced in the first place”. However a PPE finalist was more appreciative, “climate change will affect us all, and it’s important that as responsible global citizens Oxford leads the way even if it does cost us”.