Sustainable Kingston has named Queen’s the winner of the 2021 Greatest Overall Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reduction Award for reducing the university’s emissions by 6,023 tonnes.
The news comes in a year when the university was ranked first in Canada and fifth in the world in the Times Higher Education (THE) 2021 Impact Rankings for advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Reducing GHG emissions is part of the university’s work to advance SDG 13: Climate Action.
Several milestones related to environmental stewardship have been reached this year at Queen’s. The university announced in October that a 35-per-cent reduction in emissions from 2008 to 2020 had been achieved, indicating that Queen’s was on track to net-zero emissions by 2040 through the Climate Action Plan.
“It’s extremely gratifying to the university to have achieved that goal and to be recognized for this,” said Principal Patrick Deane in a video accepting the award. “It fits very well into our overall commitment to sustainability.”
Sustainable Kingston was incorporated as a not-for-profit in 2012 with the goal of supporting the Kingston community in achieving its vision of becoming Canada’s most sustainable city. Each year Sustainable Kingston recognizes local institutions or organizations that are working against environmental degradation to create a more sustainable future.
Learn more about the Sustainable Kingston Awards and the upcoming 2022 Kingston Climate Change Symposium supported by Queen’s.
