05 Carbon Footprint

EUR aims to be carbon neutral by 2024. To achieve this goal, we are implementing sustainable policies and measures in the operational areas that emit CO₂ . As we also seek to set an example for the larger community, we became signatories to the Rotterdam Climate Agreement (Rotterdams Klimaatakkoord) and the SDG Charter back in 2019.

This chapter presents an overview of EUR’s carbon footprint as well as the most recent related developments and carbon-saving achievements of 2021.

In calculating EUR’s carbon footprint, we use the method and standards developed by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GGP). The protocol comprises three scopes, to which specific emissions are associated:

• Scope 1: direct emissions influenced by the university;

• Scope 2: direct emissions originated by power generation and thus influenced by the university, but emitted outside its organizational boundaries; and

• Scope 3: indirect emissions influenced by the university on a limited basis.

The image below shows the sources of the emissions.

On the basis of this classification, we developed our timeline of emissions with 2024 as our target year for achieving zero emissions for scope 1 and 2.

To interpret the data, we must understand the logic behind the figures and consider how they have been affected by recent events. To this end, we must answer the following questions: why is the timeline shaped like this? And why is there such a big difference between 2020 and the previous years?

Let’s start with the obvious. Students and staff were rarely on campus in 2020, which is why CO₂ emissions dropped that year. However, before the COVID-19 pandemic, EUR’s carbon footprint had actually been growing. Why? Because the university’s population had been steadily rising for a decade, reaching a total of 3,398 employees and 31,850 students in 2020. A larger population leads to higher emissions.

Which brings us back to the first question: why is the timeline shaped like this? EUR reports on emissions falling within scopes 1 and 2, as do other organisations. Given our minimal production of these emissions, the university is already close to becoming carbon neutral. Hence the path of the line. However, our carbon footprint is more complex than that. A closer examination of the 2020 data, and, in particular, the information regarding scope 3, makes it easier to identify EUR’s other sources of emissions and understand their impact.

In 2020, scope 3-related emissions accounted for 82% of our carbon footprint. The tricky thing about these particular emissions is that the university has only limited influence on their production, because many of the underlying choices driving the emissions are made by individual members of the EUR community.
In fact, the 2020 data shows that 74% of emissions under scope 3 were caused by commuting and fossil fuel consumption from business travel. Measures are already in place to promote sustainable mobility, but EUR still needs to take some bold decisions to facilitate the necessary change.

*The figures of 2021 were not yet available when issuing this report. 

On 1 January, 2022, the university enacted a new business travel policy! Inspired by the faculty office of the ESHCC, EUR issued measures to regulate its business travel in Europe. If a destination is within 700km or 8 hours from Rotterdam Central Station, employees must travel by train. A Travel Zone map was created to aid decision-making, and as of 2023, a Central External Travel Agency will be in operation to provide support to staff for travel and accommodation bookings. The policy is a necessary step for achieving our sustainability goals, as traveling by train emits 90% less CO2 than the equivalent short-haul flight. Its implementation seems to promise a potential 5-10% reduction in our carbon footprint, perhaps even more!

Next year, EUR will work on new measure to encourage employees and students to adopt more sustainable commuting habits. We are happy to report, however, some of this has already been happening without the university’s intervention! In 2021, the Economic Faculty association Rotterdam (EFR) became the first student association in the country to achieve CO2 neutrality! EFR have thrown down the gauntlet. Will other student associations be inspired to take it up? Watch this space.

In January 2022, ESE, RSM and ESL began competing to reduce the carbon footprint of their catering orders as part of the Co-Ex Challenge. Who do you predict will win the title of most sustainable faculty? Stay tuned!

In April 2022, EUR and the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences will participate in a student mobility pilot study in collaboration with Flytz Mobility. For three months, 300 students from each university will be given a monthly budget for public and shared transport, all of which will be managed via a single app. The results will inform EUR’s efforts to influence students’ commuting behaviour with a view to lowering our overall carbon footprint. Updates to follow!

Got any questions about our carbon footprint? 
Read our previous reports or contact: 

• Jan-Cees Jol, Sustainability Coordinator, Business Operations: jan-cees.jol@eur.nl
• EUR Sustainability Programme: sustainable@eur.nl