5 Student Demands for Climate Action at the University of Exeter
Hello BTC Members. Here is a copy of our written letter to the University containing info of our 5 Point Plan. If you have any questions or comments on anything we have detailed in it please don't hesitate to get in touch with any of the committee. We welcome involvement from anyone and everyone and are excited to see the progress and change this plan will hopefully initiate. Please also make sure to sign our petition (check our socials and your emails for the link) to show your support and to show the Uni how many student voices are united behind these demands.
Lucy (General Sec)
To:
The University of Exeter decision-makers; The Students Guild and Athletics Union; and the Environment and Climate Emergency Team.
Members of Be the Change Society, and other students at the University of Exeter see action taken by this University as insufficient at tackling the climate crisis with the appropriate urgency, transparency and fairness required. After the University of Exeter proudly attended COP26 as a leading voice of the scientific community, students have met and discussed what we would like to see this Institution achieve on campus. The aim of this action is to reduce the disconnect and discontent between University decisions and students, instead centring around Be the Change’s core values of accessibility, student-led change, and serious action in fighting the climate crisis. Below are 5 demands we and other students believe must be met in order for students to be satisfied that the University is working urgently towards a just, accessible and carbon neutral campus.
Included in our demands are what we consider to be the 5 most comprehensive points that sum up student discontent with the University’s current stance on climate action. We welcome comments and involvement from other students, staff and University decision makers, and are excited to see renewed motivation in improving our campus for future generations of students. The climate crisis concerns all of us and therefore should involve all of us.
Signed: Bethany Lewis and Becky Rowe (Co-Presidents), Be the Change Committee, Be the Change members, and other students.
Acceleration of Exeter’s Net Zero target to 2030
a. The White Paper 2019 pledged for the University of Exeter to achieve Net Zero by 2050. This is now out of date. As a world leading university in climate science, the University of Exeter must revise its Net Zero target to 2030, in line with the MET Office target.
Decolonise Education across the University Curriculum
Each University Department must publish a report by the end of the academic year outlining their progress towards decolonising the curriculum. This should be explicitly advertised and made accessible to the students of that discipline.
Each college must ask students to give feedback on the content of all modules in the context of recent decolonisation debates. This feedback should be published and accessible to all present and future students, with further remarks from the colleges on action taken in light of feedback.
Decolonise the library and its content. Actions such as diversifying student book recommendations (the process of which should be clearly advertised); showcasing indigenous and minority works as well as non-traditional academic works at the front of the library; and the clear recognition of authors that are widely seen as pro-colonisation, xenophobic and/or racist next to their texts should be considered.
Promotion and investment in Plant based diets and sustainable food systems on campus in all outlets and catered accommodation.
a. Remove red meat from campus - as in line with the 2019 White Paper which laid out a plan to reduce the amount of meat and dairy on campus. Red processed meat is the most unsustainable and environmentally damaging food product and therefore should be removed from campus.
b. Encourage local and sustainable catering. Create a new application process for caterers for open days, to ensure their catering is sustainable and locally sourced, so that new/prospective students and visitors can choose sustainable options.
c. Reduce the price of plant based options on campus. The University should work with catering outlets and companies, including Eat and Shop on Campus, ISCA Eats and The Marketplace, to ensure plant based options on campus are more affordable. Furthermore, catered accommodations should reduce the price and increase the availability of plant based options. This should be well advertised to students.
d. To work with local suppliers, farmers, and independent businesses so that food and drink is locally sourced, and that we invest in the local economy. Products from Exeter’s ‘How on Earth’ Deli were stocked on campus for a short, successful period. We urge for new and renewed links and partnerships with local firms.
e. Investment in a marketing campaign to highlight the above changes and stimulate conversations about this necessary dietary shift on campus. Ensure this conversation is student centred, well advertised and therefore accessible.
End Pollution on Campus
Ban all single use plastics on campus by 2025, including in all catering outlets, shops, pop up stalls and catered accommodations.
Implementation of recycling bins for food, paper, plastic and tins visibly on campus. All buildings must have at least one of each bin clearly visible to students by September 2022
Increase glass recycling on campus for self catered accommodations, by having more glass bins at current locations.
Install ashtrays outside every accommodation building to reduce pollution from smoking by September 2022.
Begin a well publicised free trial of public transport, with a focus on new students to both increase student safety and decrease mobility related emissions. Begin by September 2022.
Encourage the use of public transport for sports fixtures and to and from sports facilities on and off campus.
5. Centre students in environmental decision making and progress on campus.
Employ a Sustainability Vice President at the Guild from September 2022, to raise the profile of the climate movement on campus.
Introduce a Students Only Permanent Space on campus, in order to facilitate growth of student communities, protect student wellbeing, and encourage artistic and activist projects on campus. This physical space is very much needed after the Covid-19 Pandemic, and it must be accessible, democratic, inclusive and permanent. This involves no pressure to buy products, or to work in silence, and must be student organised, student run, and student led. All decisions involving the space after its creation should be democratic, and run by elected student representatives.
Increase the funding and publicity of student led environmental projects, including the promotion of the Students Sustainability Alliance.