With the climate crisis becoming ever more urgent, St Antony’s College is working towards our ambition of achieving net-zero emissions as soon as practically possible.
Staff, students, and Fellows are working together to identify areas across the College estate where we can greatly reduce our impact on the natural environment, manage resources that we do impact in a sustainable way, and conserve and enhance biodiversity across our site. To do this we have undertaken a detailed assessment of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions footprint, supported by external consultants, to help us understand our current baselines for energy and water use, waste, recycling, and biodiversity. Overall, the College’s estimated baseline (08/18-07/19) emissions in across all three scopes add up to 2,093 tonnes CO₂e (CO₂ equivalent). The College’s scope 1 and 2 baseline emissions are 533 tonnes CO₂e. These emissions can all be attributed to the combustion of natural gas for heating, hot water and cooking (stationary combustion).*(See the bottom of page for details on methodology).
We have identified the areas in which our negative impact on the environment is greatest and, through this, agreed to target GHG reductions in the following priority areas:
- Energy use and reliance on gas (which currently accounts for around ~500t CO₂e or 25% of our total emissions)
- Food (in particular to reduce meat and dairy consumption, with potential reduction opportunities of ~65t CO₂e)
- Travel (including air travel, with potential reduction opportunities of >100t CO₂e).
We have agreed a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Action Plan targeting these areas and we have recently appointed a dedicated Environmental Sustainability Officer for the College. An early priority for the Environmental Sustainability Officer will be to assess the priorities set out in the plan and establish clear timescales for each.
The University of Oxford has set 2035 as their goal for net zero carbon and biodiversity net gain, as a College we will endeavour to achieve these same goals. An early priority for our Environmental Sustainability Officer will be to establish clear timelines for achieving net zero carbon and biodiversity net gain.
* To calculate carbon emissions we used data collected from expenditure on travel (flights, rail, cars), water, natural gas, electricity, and refuse. Emissions from these categories were calculated by consultants using appropriate emissions factors estimated by Defra sourced from the Agribaylse 3.0 database. For emissions from food, spend-based data was used along with the University of Leeds emission factors.
St Antony’s Green Impact Team has arranged for plant-based milk to be provided alongside dairy milk from now on in college. Oat milk is now provided alongside dairy milk in the Gateway Office, for college meetings, Guest High Table, and High Table. The Combined Common Room coffee machine now offers oat milk only and the Senior Common Room offers the option of either dairy or oat milk. 
St Antony’s Green Impact Team is a working group comprising students, staff, and Fellows, led by our Head Housekeeper, Nicole Wyatt. The team works together to implement various initiatives around the college with the goal of making it a more sustainable place to live and work.
Responsibility for scrutiny of, and support for, environmental sustainability measures lies with the College's Management Executive Team (MET), our key committee overseeing all aspects of the College's operating activities as well as its budget and five-year-plan. The MET reports directly to Governing Body and includes Fellows, students, and College staff on its membership.
The college has implemented a number of waste reduction measures.
The Green Impact team has focussed on increasing Biodiversity in the college grounds in the past year. Their initiatives have included the use of peat-free compost, placing bird feeding stations and bird houses around campus, leaving hedgehog piles and starting to build a hedgehog highway, and planting a wildflower area that will be a bee and butterfly haven as well as providing a beautiful area for staff and students to enjoy.
The College supports the 
The Conference of Colleges, the body which represents Oxford University’s colleges, has joined the Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership. The Partnership have pledged to help Oxford achieve net zero carbon by 2040 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, a goal we share. The partnership provides a forum for organisations based in and around the city to collaborate in accelerating emissions reduction, and we look forward to working with other colleges and organisations across the city to reduce emissions.