16 Virtual Brochure – February 2024 F) Environmental Sustainability While a significant proportion of our sample choose not to recognise environmental sustainability as a strategic risk, more are doing so, often to highlight the likelihood of not meeting net zero carbon commitments, with consequences for brand and attractiveness to staff and students. Mitigation activities include: - capital projects to decarbonise campus energy and heating - prioritisation of estates maintenance to realise carbon benefits - procurement and design requirements - senior oversight and governance of net carbon plans - publication of progress towards decarbonisation 2 https://www.queensanniversaryprizes.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2023/01/Accelerating-towards-Net-Zero.pdf Risk commentary In our 2022 briefing on the European risk environment, we noted that the sector was continuing to underestimate the likelihood and impacts of environmental sustainability risks relative to other sectors. 2023 has seen a collective shift in focus with the publication of a major report on accelerating net zero in HE2. At an institutional level there has been an evident change in risk perception this year with a substantial increase in both the ranking of both the inherent and residual risk scores. This reflects a growing recognition of the cost and practical challenges of realising decarbonisation plans across aging estates while balancing financial sustainability risks. Last year we encouraged institutions to think about the risks of climate change beyond the reputational and do so again. Audit Committees and Boards should ensure that environmental sustainability risks are adequately reflected in strategic risk registers, including the risks that extreme weather poses to estates and the delivery of research and teaching, and in the longer term to international student recruitment and supply chains.
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