FAQ

The University of Bern has set itself the goal of developing a roadmap that will include measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alternative options for climate protection.

Its original goal had been to become climate neutral by 2025. The ambitious goal of climate neutrality by 2025 was overhauled due to both political and societal developments as well as scientific insights on offsetting projects. 2025 can, however, be considered a key milestone on the path to developing a complete roadmap to climate neutrality. As part of a development phase, a joint university-wide roadmap is to be drawn up by 2026.

The University of Bern is one of the world’s most highly acclaimed research institutions in climate change research. In its Strategy 2030, it also commits to incorporating the demands of sustainable development into its academic, administrative and operational areas and to constantly improving its sustainability performance (ecology, society, economy, culture and climate). The University therefore not only wants to conduct climate research, but also to make a contribution toward climate protection in its operations and in connection with business trips. It has therefor set itself the goal to draw up a comprehensive roadmap with measures to reduce emissions and environmental impact and to deal with emissions that cannot be reduced.

Abatement takes priority over offsetting. Many greenhouse gas emissions are unavoidable. Certain business trips, for example, are impossible without air travel. Not only that, but even environmentally friendly district heating, for example, and renewable energies generate emissions. Because of that, the reduction must be accompanied by a strategy for dealing with unavoidable emissions.  The University of Bern is aware of its emissions and environmental impact and would like to make contributions to climate protection in the amount of their emissions. These can be climate protection projects to reduce emissions in other countries or, for example, projects that are related to the University's research and reduce or bind greenhouse gas emissions, as well as climate and environmental protection projects within the University of Bern. For the climate, it is irrelevant where emissions are reduced. In the long term, the contribution should increasingly relate to sink projects, i.e. projects in which greenhouse gas emissions are removed from the atmosphere. This can take place naturally via plants, moors or hummus, for example, or it can be separated technologically and bound into suitable storage facilities or chemically converted into a solid. 

For certificates from climate protection projects the University gears its efforts toward the framework for international climate protection projects of the Paris Agreement or the old United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). In this case, the projects must meet the following minimum criteria:

1. Quantifiability: the measure must result in a quantifiable abatement of CO₂ emissions (or a CO₂ equivalent CO_2eq)
2. Additionality: the measure is only being carried out for the purpose of achieving an impact on climate protection; it would not be carried out in the absence of incentives to perform offsetting
3. Permanence: that the CO_2eq abatement actually achieved must be long-lasting
4. The abatement or savings have already been achieved, meaning that the project is being assessed ex post instead of ex ante
5. Monitoring, meaning transparency and audits by an independent third party, are ensured

Projects are also sought that have a link to the University of Bern (e.g. regional or with respect to research).

The university’s carbon footprint isn’t limited to just CO₂ but also includes all relevant emissions: other greenhouse gases are converted to CO₂ equivalents (CO_2eq) on the basis of their global warming potential. The University of Bern’s carbon footprint considers all relevant greenhouse gases and expresses them as CO₂ equivalents (CO_2eq) based on their specific global warming potential.

The internationally recognized Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) governs the preparation of carbon footprints. The University of Bern has been preparing its carbon footprint in accordance with the GHG Protocol since 2019.

Greenhouse gas reports of the University of Bern

At the start, four phases were defined based on the fundamental idea that a carbon footprint first needed to be prepared as a kind of stock-taking measure to ascertain where the University stands. From that basis, the University could then determine the abatement potential, develop abatement measures and make a contribution toward climate protection that is equal in amount to the remaining emissions. These topics were worked on side by side from the very start, meaning that the phases are not proceeding sequentially, rather simultaneously. Annual carbon footprints are prepared and checked regularly for prevention and abatement potential.

Click here for more information about abatement measures.

We all need to work together to reduce our emissions. We must take a critical look at our day-to-day activities and established processes to determine whether they cause greenhouse gas emissions and, if so, how many and how they can be reduced.

The Vice-Rectorate Quality and Sustainable Development is responsible for overall project management. They work together with the areas and faculties in question to develop and implement abatement measures. Working groups can be set up for individual specific topics.

If you have any questions, please contact the team at the Vice-Rectorate Quality and Sustainable Development:

nachhaltigkeit.qualitaet@unibe.ch

Information about contributions to climate protection can be found here.