Annual Sustainability Report Performance Dashboard

Learn more about our sustainability performance metrics.

Environmental performance metrics	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24
Total energy consumption on site in kilowatt-hours (metered utilities and solar) (i)	65,918,957 kWh	65,932,843 kWh	60,010,467.57 kWh
Energy use from self-generated low carbon sources in kilowatt-hours (solar and combined heat and power generations)	9,484,143.2 kWh	6,846,662 kWh	7,913,564.00 kWh
Proportion of energy use from self-generated low carbon sources	14.4%	10%	13.2%
Energy use from renewable sources in kilowatt-hours (green supply contract electricity and solar)	16,111,034 kWh	17,484,845 kWh	17,279,433.76 kWh
Proportion of energy use from renewable sources	24%	28%	29%
Total energy use from low carbon sources in kilowatt-hours (green supply contract electricity, solar and combined heat and power)	24,838,973 kWh	24,331,507 kWh	24,497,989.76 kWh
Proportion of total energy use from low carbon sources	38%	37%	41%
Spend on electricity – the spend quoted excludes off-campus houses	£3,348,360	£5,369,808	£5,153,920
Spend on gas – the spend quoted excludes off-campus houses	£1,795,512	£3,265,528	£2,770,234
Total spend on energy	£5,143,872	£8,635,337	£7,924,154
Water consumption (the volumes quoted are for University use on campus only)	349,071 m3	328,163 m3	354,800.81 m3
Water consumption per person	16.50 m3	16.16 m3	TBC
Total amount of waste generated (in tonnes) – please note this excludes construction and project waste	1286.48 t	1528.96 t	1533.44 t
Proportion of waste recycled	400.25 t = 31.1%	477.54 t =31.2%	505.65 t   =33%
Waste sent to energy recovery	845.07 t = 65.7%	996.59 t =65.2%	982.65t   = 64%
Amount of food waste collected (ii)	25.82 t	17.08t	13.25 t
Scope 1 Carbon Emissions	9,092.30 tCO2e (i)	8,745.19 tCO2e	8083 tCO2e
Scope 2 Carbon Emissions	2,578.81 tCO2e (i)	3,196.92 tCO2e	0 (iv)
Scope 3 Carbon Emissions	120,027.95 tCO2e (i)	124,153.23 tCO2e	101,557 tCO2e (iii)
Total Carbon Emissions	131,699.06 tCO2e (i)	136,095.34 tCO2e	109,640 tCO2e (ii)

i. In 2021/22 we adopted the Standardised Carbon Emissions Framework (SCEF) by the EAUC which aims to apply the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol guidance to the higher education sector. Due to this methodology change, carbon footprints from 2021/22 or newer are not comparable to the ones produced before the framework adoption. This is the reason why earlier footprints including the first produced footprint in 2018/19 are not included in the table anymore.

ii. In 2023/24 a comprehensive carbon accounting review has been conducted as part of the ongoing development of a net zero transition plan resulting in some methodology changes. In addition to aligning to the SCEF framework where suitable, two changes have been made to more closely follow the GHG protocol guidance and to better reflect the universities sustainability ambitions (see footnotes vi and vii).

iii. Air travel related emissions within business travel or international student travel do not include an uplift for the secondary indirect warming effects from non-CO2 emissions anymore. In alignment with the GHG Protocol, responsible non-CO2 emissions are publicly disclosed in the ‘Separately from the Scopes’ table but are not reported within scope 3. The university is awaiting official guidance on the topic and will update its carbon accounting methodology to comply with global standards and best practice as soon as any official guidance is released.

iv. We now report market-based emissions in our scope 2 whilst disclosing both market-based (the choice we make for our electricity purchase) and location-based (our grid connection) emissions in alignment with the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations. This dual-reporting approach is intended to give a fairer, more complete picture of an organisation’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions by choosing to purchase low-carbon electricity. Our scope 2 market-based emissions are zero as our electricity is sourced using a 100% Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (‘REGO’) backed contract.

Socio-Economic Performance Metrics

Performance metrics (for EDI-related KPIs, refer to our EDI homepage)	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22
Total University expenditure	£343,754,000	£282,484,000	£294,812,000	£377,300,000
University expenditure on arts and heritage (this includes spend at the Library, ACCA, listed buildings, the Keep, Brighton Pride and Brighton Festival)	£8,251,000	£8,782,000	£9,135,207	£9,376,179
Proportion of first-generation students	26.2%	25.6%	24%	24.7%
Proportion of low-income students receiving financial aid	16%	15.2%	24.8%	21.6%
Value of our Hardship Fund	£199,721 (354 students benefitted from this)	£235,234 (321 students benefitted from this)	£615,949 (679 students benefitted from this)	£818,000 (758 students benefitted from this)
Scholarships to students from lower- and middle-income countries	87	120 (v)	129	372
Proportion of employees on secure contracts (vi)	90.4%	92.3%	94.3%	91.3%
Total research income	£38,000,000	£36,947,183	£38,885,000	£37,634,000
Research income from industry and commerce	£1,702,000	£2,880,000	£2,695,000	£2,600,000
Research income from industry and commerce by subject area: STEM	£1,583,000	£ 2,412,000	£2,094,000	£2,029,000
Research income from industry and commerce by subject area: Medicine	£131,000	£393,000	£323,000	£390,000
Research income from industry and commerce by subject area: Arts and Humanities/Social Sciences	£12,000	£75,000	£278,000	£181,000

v. In 2019/20 the figure of 120 scholarships includes part time students so it is equivalent to 101 full time students.

vi. Our HR system only allows us to pull reports from a single point in time, therefore this figure only accounts for staff on secure contracts as of 31st of July 2021. Due to technical issues this report is unable to exclude contracts covering maternity or other staff leave, however we recognise that it is unlikely that such contracts would carry on for longer than two years. This figure only relates to fully contracted University of Sussex employees.