Governance

Queen Mary University of London has made a public commitment to incorporate sustainability principles and practices throughout its core activities of teaching, research and operational activities. QMUL's Sustainability Committee aims to provide leadership, coordination and guidance in the development and management of its sustainability risks, responsibilities, opportunities and to deliver continual performance improvement across all areas of the College.

The Sustainability Committee's role is to:

1. Oversee, co-ordinate and drive continuing performance improvement across all aspects of QMUL in relation to delivery of the Environmental Sustainability Policy.
2. Review and approve all key policies, plans, objectives and performance targets relating to Environmental Sustainability including, but not limited to, the Environmental Sustainability Policy and all associated strategies, systems and plans.
3. Monitor progress towards achieving its environmental sustainability objectives and performance targets.
4. Oversee performance of the Energy & Environmental Management System (E&EMS), ensuring that QMUL is fulfilling its responsibilities.
5. Consider and prioritise projects, which contribute to the achievement of QMUL’s sustainability objectives and targets. This includes making recommendations in respect of necessary funding of initiatives for environmental/energy/carbon reduction improvements for discussion and agreement at Estates Strategy Board (ESB) and Queen Mary Senior Executive Team (SET) as appropriate.
6. Oversee the activities of, and to receive progress reports from, QMUL’s sustainability working groups (see reporting structure).
7. Co-ordinate reporting on, and communication of, sustainability performance (including endorsement of the annual QMUL’s Sustainability report) to both internal and external audiences through relevant communication strategy and plan.
8. Report to the ESB and/or SET on the status of QMUL’s environmental sustainability performance, including its compliance with relevant regulations, external commitments and obligations.
9. Advise on environmental sustainability-related teaching and research and facilitate collaboration across disciplines and functions to integrate sustainability into QMUL’s teaching, training and research activities.

The Chair of the Sustainability Committee is the Vice Principal (Policy and Strategic Partnerships) and the Director of Estates, Facilities and Capital Development is the Vice Chair of the governance group.

The Committee will have senior representation from the following areas of the University

• Academic Faculties
• Human Resources
• Student Services
• Student Representative
• Staff Trade Unions
• Finance
• Procurement
• Information Technology Services
• Marketing and Communications
• Health and Safety
• Sustainability
• All Service Areas within the Estates and Facility Directorate (Deputy Directors)

Relevant academics and areas impacted by sustainability related projects are also invited to attend.

Meeting Schedule & Reporting

The Sustainability Committee will meet at least four times every academic year and more frequently where necessary. Whenever necessary, these meetings will be rotated across the main Campuses of QMUL.

The Sustainability Committee will report, via the Chair, to the Estates Strategy Board (ESB) and Senior Executive Team (SET) as appropriate. 

The full terms of reference for the Sustainability Committee and papers from previous meeting are available below:

Queen Mary Sustainability Committee
Minutes and Papers
Queen Mary Sustainability Committee Terms of Reference April 2022 [PDF 339KB]
23 January 2023	Minutes [PDF 189KB]
22 October 2022	Minutes [PDF 231KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 60KB]
13 May 2022		Meeting Papers [PDF 359KB]	Joe Briscoe - Ferroelectric Nanocomposites for Enhanced Solar Energy Efficiency 13 May 2022 [PDF 3,840KB] Huasheng Wang - Research, Education and Green Campus 13 May 2022 [PDF 27,287KB] Henrik Brogger - The Benefits of E-Waste Recycling 13 May 2022. [PDF 373KB]
01 April 2022	Minutes [PDF 94KB]	Meeting papers [PDF 936KB]
24 January 2022	Minutes [PDF 85KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 7,506KB]	Queen Mary - Heat Decarbonisation Plan (Draft) Presentation 24 January 2022 [PDF 1,720KB]
25 October 2021	Minutes [PDF 79KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 12,985KB]	Lisa Belyea - The Campus as a Living Laboratory 25 October 2021 [PDF 703KB]
04 August 2021	Minutes [PDF 82KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 502KB]	Gregory Chass-Activities and International Partnering in carbon Usage and Infrastructure-4-August-2021 [PDF 2,960KB] Kate-Heppell & StephenTaylor Education for Sustainable Development Geography-4-August-2021 [PDF 27,590KB] Valdas Noreika-Ecological Awareness among Religious Communities-4-August-2021 [PDF 965KB]
07 May 2021	Minutes [PDF 84KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 2,419KB]	Joe Briscoe-Ferroelectric Nanocomposites for Enhanced Solar Energy Efficiency (FENCES)-7-May-2021 [PDF 2,726KB]
15 March 2021	Minutes [PDF 84KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 976KB]	Liam Campling & Matteo Mandarini-Embedding Sustainability into the Business and Management Curriculum-15-March-2021 [PDF 161KB]
25 January 2021	Minutes [PDF 105KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 2,714KB]	Ana Sobrido-Sustainable Electrodes for Advanced Flow Batteries-25-January-2021 [PDF 2,884KB]
07 October 2020	Minutes [PDF 126KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 4,697KB]
22 July 2020	Minutes [PDF 73KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 2,739KB]	Kate Heppell-ChessWatch Observations on Citizen Scheme Approach to Catchment Management-22-July-2020 [PDF 9,341KB]
29 April 2020	Minutes [PDF 65KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 3,572KB]
09 January 2020	Minutes [PDF 86KB]	Meeting Papers [PDF 2,159KB]

Please address any queries related to the work of the Sustainability Committee to sustainability@qmul.ac.uk