SOS-UK, alongside the National Union of Students (NUS), the University and College Union (UCU) and People & Planet (P&P) are calling for all UK universities and colleges to publicly commit to being net zero emissions for scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2030 to tackle the climate emergency and ecological crisis.

We know that in order to have any hope of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees we need to commit to and start delivering these ambitious targets, and we've created an easy resource to see how your university or college is doing!

Check out your institutions target, and compare across the sector, at www.carbontargets.uk.

Inclusivity is central to sustainability but it is acknolwedged that some sustainability campaigns and initiatives do not meet the needs of liberation groups and often fail to address interlinking issues such as colonialism.

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To support an increase in understanding that the call for climate justice is also a call for racial, gender, queer, trans, disability and class justice, this hub lists various resources to steer sustainability work and communications, and will over time be developed to provide some examples of how students' unions are collaborating with liberation groups to steer their sustainabilty work. We have grouped resources into each liberation group to help organise them and guide you but several resources draw on the intersections across liberation groups. You could also view the NUS decolonise education library.
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Check out our Sustainability and Intersectionality Resource Hub

Lots of universities hold investments in companies, known as shares. Anyone who invests in a company, has a say over how the company is run. ‍

We’re calling on universities to use their power as shareholders to actively engage - and vote - at company AGMs.

This year, campaigners are calling for Barclays and HSBC to stop funding fossil fuels at their AGMs. Since the Paris Agreement, Barclays and HSBC, two of Europe's biggest fossil fuel financiers, have funnelled over US $255 billion into to the coal, oil and gas sectors, according to the Banking on Climate Chaos report. See the Barclays and HSBC resolutions.

Call on your university to support the resolutions and take AGM action! 

Use this template email to join our email campaign, or visit our website for more information.

Are you aged 10-14? Are you full of exciting ideas to help improve the environment and the community you live in? Join the Green Influencers Scheme to imagine, make, and share your own projects!

As a young person, you’re not just a leader of tomorrow – you can be a leader now. If you have ideas for getting yourself or your friends to connect with nature, we want to help you make those ideas a reality. As an environmental youth social action project this could include elements of volunteering, fundraising, campaigning or supporting your peers, but projects can be anything you like – for example, creating a community garden. You will be at the forefront of making and carrying out your project from start to finish. Our Green Mentors will be here to support you - to help you make connections in your community and to get funding to make it happen.

To get involved, please get in touch with your local Green Mentor:

• If you live in Southampton and surrounding areas, contact Holly.
• If you live in Norwich and surrounding areas, contact Kate.
• If you live elsewhere in England, you can locate your nearest Green Mentor on this map.

Our Invest for Change campaign supports students to call on their universities to reform investment practices to change the financial system. We can run introductory workshops, introducing the issues with the current financial system and how students can change this through an Invest for Change campaign on campus. We also offer more detail campaign planning sessions, to kickstart your campaigns! We tailor workshop each workshop to your group, so let us know what you need.

Head to our website to book a workshop via our form at the bottom of the homepage, or get in touch with melanie.kee@sos-uk.org.

We partner highly motivated students and recent graduates with forward thinking organisations to collaborate on research, placements and practical projects to progress economic, social and environmental sustainability. Start browsing the opportunities currently available at https://forgood.nus.org.uk/.

To further anti-racism understanding and work, holding a regular group with peers or colleagues may support discussions and learning on race equity. Participants could take it in turns to bring a topic to the group.

Check out the resources we've collated for our own group at SOS-UK (it is not exhaustive!). It forms part of our wider sustainability & intersectionality resource hub.

UK universities have over £15 billion that is frequently invested against the interests of students and the world they will graduate into. As part of our Invest for Change campaign, email your University's senior management to ensure their investments are funding environmental and social justice solutions and engaging with investments to change corporate practices.

Use our template to write your email, and see our resources for further support.

We're relaunching Students for Trees this year and are now recruiting for our new council. We would like to recruit at least 10 students from all four UK nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) to join us as members of the Council! To find out more about the benefits of taking part and what the role will involve, checking out a blog post written by the Council Chair - Hazel .

Apply to be part of the council by filling in the application form, the deadline to apply is the 10th October 2021.

More information: studentsfortrees.uk

Questions: studentsfortrees@sos-uk.org 

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