EPFL defines its sustainability roadmap

EPFL President Martin Vetterli unveiled the 2030 Climate & Sustainability Strategy at his annual address on February 23, 2023. The strategy aims for a 40% average cut in carbon emissions from our School’s operations and sets ambitious objectives in the areas of education, research and innovation.

"We need you in these times of crisis," said President Vetterli. He urged members of the EPFL community to change their habits, for example by reducing their energy consumption. And to paraphrase a famous statement by a federal councilor, he added: "Travel as little as possible, and as much as necessary."

The strategy was developed through a long process involving our student body, all our vice presidencies, schools, and many of our in-house teams and partner organizations. In education, it entails incorporating sustainability issues into all our degree programs, across all levels and disciplines. The first changes will be made this year, with further measures gradually implemented through 2027. In research and innovation, the strategy places climate and sustainability issues high on the agenda, particularly in the areas of clean energy and carbon capture, storage and use. We will also rethink the very way in which we conduct research, with our labs now measuring and reducing their carbon emissions.

One pillar of our new strategy will be to roll out targeted initiatives to transfer our knowledge to society and the economy. We will provide additional support for new businesses in climate- and sustainability-oriented fields, in order to help them reach their end markets. And we will expand our science outreach and continuing education programs so as to reach a broader audience: from schoolchildren to seasoned experts in public administration, NGOs and the private sector.

And in our ongoing effort to reduce our campuses’ impact on the environment, we have spelled out concrete measures to decrease our energy use, encourage clean transportation and make our food services more sustainable – complete with quantitative targets in each area. The goal is to reduce our carbon emissions by an average of 40% from either 2006 or 2019 levels, depending on the source. We’ve also set objectives related to sustainable IT, procurement, waste management, green spaces and social responsibility more broadly.

“This is our first such strategy and it’ll be updated as we go to make it even more ambitious,” says Gisou van der Goot, EPFL’s Vice President for Responsible Transformation. She calls on every member of the EPFL community to do their part. “Climate and sustainability challenges require a collective response. Our strategy is a first step, and it already puts the key issues on the table.”

"We are not starting from scratch”

Many developments in the area of environmental protection preceded the Climate and Sustainability Strategy over the last years. For example, the EPFL's thermal power plant, which has been running on water from Lake Geneva for more than 40 years, has been completely renovated between 2020 and 2022, enabling the EPFL to become completely independent of fuel oil.

In terms of mobility, too, numerous initiatives have been implemented over the past twenty years. This has led to a significant reduction in the number of people coming to campus in private motorized vehicles, and a considerable increase in public transport and bicycle travel. The same is true for food, where greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by 30% since 2019, thanks in particular to the increase in vegetarian offerings and the preference given to local and seasonal products.

This is why the Climate and Sustainability Strategy does not just set targets and future actions to achieve them. It also lists past achievements, because "we are not starting from scratch," notes Gisou van der Goot.