Environmental Policy

Founded in 1837, the Royal College of Art is the world’s largest community of postgraduate art and design students. It is the oldest art and design university in continuous operation and has been ranked number one in the world for a remarkable ten consecutive years (QS World Subject Rankings 2015–24). The purpose of the RCA is to nurture, inspire and develop the artists, designers, communicators, researchers, and innovators who will change the world.

We have a responsibility, through the RCA’s influence and activities, to ensure that we limit our draw on resources and have a positive impact on nature, people and the planet wherever possible in order to achieve net zero by 2035.

Through teaching, research, knowledge exchange and innovation, we will make global contributions to sustainability, climate change and the circular economy, which will be reflected in our own operational behaviours and decisions.

We are committed to guiding and supporting every member of our community so that they can contribute to the collective task of tackling the climate and biodiversity emergencies. And we recognise that changes in individual practices must be accompanied by structural, institutional change.

We must acknowledge the intersectionality of sustainability and that the climate crisis has a disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities and biodiversity. The Environmental Sustainability team works closely with the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team, with EDI represented on the Environmental Sustainability Committee, to review environmental and social inclusion and sustainability across the College. Through this mechanism, we are able to target different areas across the College, to trial, pilot and implement more sustainable, ethical practices. As an example, together with the Procurement team, we approach sustainability in our supply chain holistically, considering environmental impact alongside human rights, equity, diversity and inclusion as outlined in the Responsible Procurement Policy (PDF).

The RCA has committed to achieving net zero by 2035. At an operational level, the institution is actively working towards minimising the global impact of its carbon usage at Scopes 1 & 2, and we will commit to reviewing our Scope 3 emissions in 2027–32 in order to achieve net zero carbon by 2035.

We will demonstrate the environmental commitments of the RCA through:

• Ensuring our students continue to learn about environmental sustainability through formal and informal teaching and learning in order to contribute to global challenges.
• Continuing to support solutions to the climate crisis and circular economy through research, knowledge exchange and innovation.
• Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in order to reach net zero emissions by 2035.
• Protecting the environment through preventing pollution and minimising waste through the efficient use of natural resources on campus.
• Maintaining zero operational waste to landfill and promoting reuse and material circularity on campus.
• Continuing to sell zero single-use plastic bottles and identifying further opportunities to reduce single-use plastic.
• Reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency.
• Ensuring that all construction and refurbishment work takes into account sustainability principles. All new buildings are a minimum of BREEAM Excellent and major refurbishments are SKA Gold.
• Considering environmental impact within procurement and implementing the Responsible Procurement Policy
• Investing in companies whose activities are, on ethical grounds, consistent with the educational and/or research objectives of the College and excluding investments in fossil fuel companies.
• Seeking opportunities to introduce more biodiversity in our urban estate.
• Minimising emissions and environmental impact from travel.
• Fulfilling, and wherever possible exceeding, our compliance obligations
• Working towards, and thereafter maintaining, an environmental management systems accredited to the ISO 14001 standard.
• Continually improving the environmental management system to enhance environmental performance.
• Raising awareness of environmental sustainability and the Environmental Policy amongst students, staff and stakeholders.
• Developing and implementing an environmental sustainability strategy, including objectives and targets, and climate action plan to support the delivery of these commitments.
• Reporting on environmental data and progress against objectives and targets on an annual basis at a minimum.
• Providing resources in order to achieve these commitments.
• Collaborating with external stakeholders and networks, including South Ken ZEN+, EAUC, London Higher and Wandsworth Sustainability Partnership, and engaging with the local community and the Further and Higher Education sector on sustainability, climate change and decarbonisation.

To give effect to its commitment to its Environmental Policy the RCA will:

• Publish its full Policy on its website and intranet
• Review on the Policy on an annual basis by the Environmental Sustainability Committee and Senior Management Team.
• Provide an annual update to the RCA Council

Any expressions of concern should be made to yoursay-staff@rca.ac.uk for staff and feedback@rca.ac.uk for students. The Chair of the Environmental Sustainability Committee, along with the Vice-Chancellor, are responsible for this policy. Delivery of the policy will be overseen by the RCA’s Environmental Sustainability Committee, chaired by the Chief Operating Officer.

Date approved: 4 June 2024 by SMT

Due for review: June 2025 by SMT

• Responsible Investment Policy (PDF)
• Responsible Procurement Policy (PDF)
• Sustainable Food Policy (PDF)
• Donations Acceptance Policy (PDF)
• Research Ethics Policy (PDF)
• EDI Policy
• Modern Slavery Statement
• Ethical Careers Statement