Natural Environment Research Council
(asked on 30th January 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with the Natural Environment Research Council on (a) their sustainability plans and (b) assessments of the sustainability of projects they (i) fund and (ii) otherwise sponsor since July 2024.
Answered by
Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ministers and officials meet regularly with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) including its constituent councils, on a range of issues. The UKRI Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2020-2025 sets out UKRI’s ambition to protect and enhance the environment across its investments and operations, while ensuring that the research and innovation it supports stays at the cutting-edge. The UKRI Environmental Sustainability Strategy is available at: https://www.ukri.org/publications/ukri-environmental-sustainability-strategy/.
As part of this Strategy, UKRI established a carbon fund, which identified and funded quick wins in their research facilities and as of April 2025 will support the implementation of a pilot scheme for carbon budgets.
UKRI’s councils provide broad support for research and innovation to improve sustainability, including over £22.7 million funding over five years through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to support research that drives the transition to sustainable technologies and operations.