Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to incorporate the (a) development of the Government's draft sustainability strategy and (b) implications for universities of that strategy in potential reforms to higher education that may result from Sir Philip Augar’s review of post-18 education and funding.

I would like to recognise the excellent work already happening across the higher education sector to reach net zero. Ahead of COP26 in November, 125 universities had signed up to the Race to Zero.

The costs to reach net zero will vary across institutions. The government has committed to work with the sector to explore the mandatory reporting for carbon emissions by universities, which will help to gather a fuller picture of the challenge ahead.

Universities are eligible to receive funding through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. Some universities have already received millions of pounds through this scheme.