Demand Better from UEA

David Richardson, Christine Bovis-Cnossen and Ian Callaghan

We demand that UEA acts with the urgency the Climate and Ecological Crisis requires. UEA must act with far greater urgency on their declaration of a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in 2019. We urge UEA to use its position as an internationally respected Higher Education and Research Institution to be at the forefront of driving systemic change.

There is a lot to do, and every day delayed counts. Despite grand promises of leading on climate action, UEA has done little to substantiate these words. The UEA sustainability team is a fraction of that at comparable universities. It has fallen 17 places in the latest People and Planet sustainability ratings, and failed to meet its own carbon reduction targets. Actions speak louder than words, so we have provided the university management with a list of minimum requirements which are necessary for truly treating the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency as an emergency.

Full Letter here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16yFjqvefvpvDMWEsEHyoau4QQCJVNwXs/view?usp=share_link


To: David Richardson, Christine Bovis-Cnossen and Ian Callaghan
From: [Your Name]

Dear David, Christine, and Ian,

We are writing to you as the Biodiversity and Climate Action Network (BCAN) at UEA. We are a network of staff and students calling for radical action from the University to tackle the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency. We commend UEA on its declaration of the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in 2019, and on setting a Net Zero target. However, we are concerned by the lack of substantial progress since these developments. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2022, “any further delay […] will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”[1] We therefore call on UEA to step up its ambition, and to act with the urgency the crisis demands. UEA must make use of its position as an internationally respected Higher Education and Research Institution, to be at the forefront of driving systemic change. We have put together this letter detailing the key actions we believe the University needs to take to this end.

These demands are the minimum requirements to tackle the Climate and Biodiversity emergency as an emergency. They are not comprehensive nor substitutable, but are all crucial. There is a lot of work to do. The UEA is well placed to undertake this, with a plethora of relevant academic expertise which could be orientated towards reducing university impacts. In addition to the need for far more paid roles, as explored below, this opens the possibility for a broad range of applied student and staff research projects. These demands can, and must, work in concert with the UEAs world-class teaching and research.

This letter was originally composed before the announcement of plans for sweeping compulsory redundancies across UEA. So, we would first like to express our outrage at this news. We stand with UEA staff, and with UCU, Unite and Unison, in calling for zero compulsory redundancies. It is clear that the deficit in university finances is the result of serious mismanagement, and it is unconscionable that ordinary staff should take the hit for this. There can be no climate and ecological justice without justice for educators, researchers, and all workers in Higher Education. If the UEA is serious about being a world-leading institution at the forefront of climate research and action, it must protect and respect the people who make this work possible. We reject the neoliberal marketisation of Higher Education. We demand that UEA reorients its priorities to the creation of a flourishing and supportive intellectual community, and to fostering knowledge and action for the collective social good.

In the linked text, we outline our calls for action. We have divided these into themes. The themes are: Strategy, governance and delivery; Curriculum; Sustainable campus; Funding and Finance; International travel; Catering; and Careers:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16yFjqvefvpvDMWEsEHyoau4QQCJVNwXs/view?usp=share_link

[1] IPCC, 2022. Sixth Assessment Report: Working Group II contribution on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. IPCC_AR6_WGII_SummaryForPolicymakers.pdf (p.33).

UEA Biodiversity and Climate Action Network

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Ana Zupancic, Biological Sciences .
Stephen Kirk, DEV.
Sean Irving, NBS, PhD student.
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Meg Watts, .
Lisa Baumgärtner, ENV and DEV, Student!.
Frances Fox, Env & dev, Student .
gareth mobbs, , .
Maximillian Jones, BIO, PhD student.
Busra Serin, DEV, Student.
Lottie Rowedder, Biological Sciences , Student .
Marina Millan Blanquez, BIO, PhD student .
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Alice Avery, .
Elliot Honeybun-Arnolda, ENV, SRA.
Molly Cracknell, Student .
Francesca File, PPL, UG Student, .
Reethu Raveendran, School of Environmental Sciences, MSc Student.
Franziska Hoerbst, BIO / CMP, PhD student.
Liliana Fischer, Biological Sciences, PhD Student.
Katrina Grubb, , .
Natasha Senior, Environmental Sciences.
Elizabeth Lalneihtluangi, School of Environmental Sciences, Student .
Hannah Hoechner, DEV, Lecturer.
Isabel Faci-Gomez, Bio, PhD student.
Cat Acheson, ENV, PhD Researcher.
Peter Emmrich, DEV, .
Stephanie Williams, BIO, PhD student.
Michael Taylor, CRU/UEA, Senior Research Associate.
Josh Bennett, JIC, PhD student NRPDTP.
Daniel Luedke, PostDoc.
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Joshua Waites, BIO, PhD.
Emma Raven, BIO, .
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Laurel Brown, LDC, .
Thomas Smith, LDC, .
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Guthrie Allen, BIO, PhD student.
Teresa Belton, EDU, Academic Associate.
Peter Belton, Chemistry, Emeritus Professor.
Agnes Stefanski, DEV, Exchange student.
Yolanda Wallbanks.
Noel Longhurst, ENV, Lecturer.
Isabella Powell, Biological Sciences, UG student .
Katie Davies , Psychology , Student .
Petra Todd , Env science 1st year , Student .
Andrew Crombie, BIO/ENV, Researcher.
Isabel Anderson, ENV, student .
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