Participation councils: UvA must place more emphasis on sustainability
In a joint recommendation to the Executive Board, the Central Student Council (CSR) and the Central Works Council (COR) have urged the UvA to devote more attention to sustainability.
When it comes to sustainability, the university needs to step things up, the Joint Assembly (GV) advises the UvA in its response to the draft 2026 budget. At present, the university is not meeting its own stated targets in this area. In 2021, the White Paper on Sustainability set out the ambition for the UvA to reduce its carbon footprint by 25 per cent within five years; so far, however, this has not been achieved.
Within the GV, the COR and CSR exercise the participatory rights of staff and students. The Executive Board requires the approval of the Joint Assembly for decisions relating, among other things, to the budgets and the University Regulations.
Sustainability ranking
It is not entirely clear how much reduction has actually been achieved in recent years, and this lack of transparency is a major source of concern for the GV. “The problems with sustainability reporting have been known since 2023, and the current plans to improve this are not being implemented quickly enough,” the letter states.
The UvA has also slipped significantly in the annual SustainaBul sustainability ranking, which assesses all higher education institutions. From third place in 2023, the university fell to eighteenth place in 2024.
Sustainability Office
Urgency is therefore required, as there is clearly work to be done, the participation council concludes. While plans do exist to set up a Sustainability Office, the GV believes that there is a lack of engagement and coordination in its establishment. The absence of renewed sustainability targets and strategies, now that the original policy document expired in 2025, is also a cause for concern for the GV.
To address these issues, the participation council advises the UvA “to ensure a strengthened team that is responsible for a clear and accountable pathway towards climate neutrality and comprehensive sustainability at the UvA, as well as the necessary resources and proactive decisions from the Executive Board.” The University of Amsterdam has not yet responded to the letter.
