Trinity has joined 111 universities worldwide in a pledge to reverse biodiversity decline. The Nature Positive University Alliance was launched on Thursday at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal.
Through the alliance, College is committing to assess its environmental impact with the aim of reducing its ecological footprint. As part of the pledge, Trinity promises to carry out baseline assessments, set measurable time restricted targets, take action to protect and restore its ecosystem, and conduct annual transparent reporting on its progress.
The initiative was announced by the University of Oxford and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. It brings together the higher education sector in a “global effort” to reverse the loss of nature by addressing their own impact on the ecosystem.
Vice President for Biodiversity and Climate Action at Trinity, Jane Stout said: “Trinity is committed to a sustainable and healthy planet and is embedding sustainability in everything we do: from world-class research across disciplines, our undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, to our campus and in how we operate.”
“There are challenges, but by joining the Nature Positive Universities Alliance, we join an international effort to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.”
“Raising awareness, and increasing the knowledge and understanding of biodiversity loss and its consequences across staff and students in Trinity, as well as beyond Trinity, is a priority,” she added.
Joining the alliance is the most recent action of a number of steps that Trinity has taken this year to increase biodiversity on campus. In November, College unveiled a new wildlife pond in the provost’s garden. This followed the planting of 280 trees in Santry sports grounds back in October.
