HE provider environmental information 2022/23

56% of UK HE providers who submitted data saw reductions in their Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions in 2022/23.

138 HE providers submitted Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions data to HESA through the optional Estates management record for the year 2022/23. The total Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions for these providers stood at 1.4 million tonnes of CO₂.

Of the 132 HE providers who submitted data for the past two years, 73 (55%) saw a decrease in emissions.

133 providers reported their total energy consumption in both years, of which 97 (73%) saw a decrease in energy usage.

115 providers reported generating renewable energy themselves either on- or off-site. These efforts generated 117 Gigawatt hours of renewable energy representing 2% of the sector’s 7.0 Terawatt hour total energy consumption.

The Estates management record is a statutory requirement for HE providers in Wales but is optional for HE providers in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

As well as energy and emissions, the open data publication HE Provider Data: Estates Management includes data on the area of providers’ buildings and grounds, water consumption, waste, recycling, transport, and environmental management.

Notes

1. Carbon emission figures relate to Scope 1 and 2 emissions excluding emissions from supply chain, transport and waste. Scope 3 emissions figures are included separately in the Environmental information statistics tables for most HE providers.
2. A further table of contextual student, staff and financial data will be published following release of Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2022/23 in August 2024.
3. See Definitions: Estates management for full definitions of terms used in the release and explanation of the coverage of statistics.
4. See Upcoming data releases for a schedule of Official Statistics releases from HESA.
5. HESA is part of Jisc. Jisc cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.