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University of Birmingham strengthens commitment to climate action and biodiversity

University has signed three sustainability pledges and joined sector-wide initiative to achieve climate ambitions.

26 June 2025
A woman walks along a path, surrounded by greenery and trees.

The University of Birmingham has reaffirmed its commitment to tackling global sustainability and climate challenges by signing internationally recognised pledges.

It has signed the Climate Action Network for International Educators (CANIE) Accord and pledged its commitment to the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Practice, and to being a Nature Positive University.

As an institution founded on social responsibility, the University seeks to deliver sustainability though pioneering research, education, its practices, processes and behaviours, and engagement with its partners and communities.

Zoe Hurley, Head of Sustainability at the University of Birmingham said:

"We are delighted to be a signatory to the CANIE Accord, the Concordat and Nature Positive. We look forward to working with these organisations to tackle the climate crisis and using our research, partnerships and expertise to deliver sustainability solutions.

"We are committed to embedding sustainability across all disciplines and areas of the university and, by making these pledges, we are reaffirming our position as a leading institution in the field sustainability."

We look forward to working with these organisations to tackle the climate crisis and using our research, partnerships and expertise to deliver sustainability solutions.

Zoe Hurley, Head of Sustainability

The University of Birmingham has signed the Climate Action Network for International Educators (CANIE) Accord and pledged its commitment to strengthening and accelerating the response of the international education sector to the climate crisis.

CANIE’s mission is to lead and support international educators around the world to take climate action by providing resources and guidance, fostering communities and encouraging climate-literacy. The University of Birmingham is the 10th UK university, and second Russell Group University, to sign the accord.

In January, the University also signed the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice. This has been developed by UK research and innovation sector so that the sector can deliver a shared ambition as part of meeting the global challenge. 

By signing this concordat, the University recognises the need to develop how we conduct research and innovation, taking steps to reduce our own environmental impact where feasible and practical, as well as promote wider solutions around environmental sustainability.

Finally, the University has joined Nature Positive’s growing network of 500 higher education institutions. Nature Positive Universities was founded by UNEP and the University of Oxford in partnership with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

As part of the pledge, the University will seek to address the impacts and influence it has on nature, and affirm a commitment to supporting biodiversity across its estates. As part of this, the University recently launched its Biodiversity plan and committed to annual biodiversity reporting.

Dr Laura Graham, Associate Professor in Ecological Modelling and Lead of the Biodiversity Action Group at the University of Birmingham said:

"We are dedicated to protecting biodiversity across all areas of the University, from our research to our operations, to directly enhancing the biodiversity we have here on campus. Becoming a Nature Positive University signatory is a recognition of our commitment to biodiversity conservation and provides us with the network to build on these efforts into the future."

The University is committed to a holistic approach to sustainability and incorporating into everything it does, as evidence by its recently announced positions in the QS Sustainability Rankings (38th) and the People & Planet rankings (68th). The University recently joined nine other Russell Group institutions in the IEMA partner register, signifying an important step to providing opportunities to students in the field of sustainability.

The University of Birmingham is leading the way as a thought leader and partner in delivering sustainability through key areas:

  • pioneering research,
  • transformative education, and
  • through our sustainable practices as an organisation and the behaviours and actions of our university community.

As part of this, we are working to achieve operational net zero carbon. The University is seeking to change society and the environment positively, and use its research and education to make a major global contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Notes for editors

  • For media enquiries please contact Tim Mayo, Press Office, University of Birmingham, tel: +44 (0)7815 607 157.
  • The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, educators and more than 40,000 students from over 150 countries.
  • England’s first civic university, the University of Birmingham is proud to be rooted in of one of the most dynamic and diverse cities in the country. A member of the Russell Group and a founding member of the Universitas 21 global network of research universities, the University of Birmingham has been changing the way the world works for more than a century.
  • We are working with industry, academic and policy partners from across the globe to improve lives and livelihoods for all – to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards the 2030 Agenda.
  • CANIE is a grassroots initiative and registered non-profit formed by international education practitioners from around the world who see the need and the opportunity for the higher education sector to step up and act on climate. It is governed by a global board of volunteer directors who lead the strategy to grow CANIE's reach and influence globally. Our work is project-based with practitioner committees of volunteer from around the world and chapter-based as we grow to deliver regionally-specific content and networking opportunities.
  • The CANIE Accord is a public commitment and a framework of practical steps that educational organisations can action on their journey to sustainable international education. Examples of these steps include supporting the development and dissemination of climate literacy learning programmes, ensuring sustainability is recognised as a graduate attribute and developing climate expert communities, as highlighted through the work of our Environmental Institutions, including Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action.
  • The Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability has been developed by the UK research and innovation sector. It represents a shared ambition for the UK to continue delivering cutting-edge research, but in a more environmentally responsible and sustainable way.
  • Nature Positive is a global societal goal defined as ‘halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 on a 2020 baseline, and achieve full recovery by 2050’, in line with the mission of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The Nature Positive Initiative launched on 6 September 2023, to promote the integrity and implementation of the Nature Positive Global Goal.

Featured staff

  • Dr Laura Graham

    Birmingham Fellow / IIASA-NERC Research Fellow

    Laura Graham is a computational & spatial ecologist interested in understanding how anthropogenic changes such as climate and land-use change affect global ecosystems, and how this in turn affects human well-being.

    Email:

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