Queen’s has been named the winner of the 2021 Greatest Overall Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Award from Sustainable Kingston for reducing the university’s emissions by 6,023 tonnes. The Sustainable Kingston Awards are presented each year to local organizations to recognize their hard work in mitigating the climate emergency and fostering a culture of sustainability in the Kingston community.

“It’s extremely gratifying to the university to have achieved this goal and be recognized by Sustainable Kingston,” says Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane. “While this is a noteworthy achievement, we recognize that the work is ongoing.  What is important is that it reflects our strong commitment to sustainability, something that is central to the new Queen’s strategy.”

Queen’s recently announced that it has achieved a 35 per cent reduction in emissions between 2008 and 2020, hitting the first major milestone target laid out in the Climate Action Plan. The next major targets in the plan are a 70 per cent reduction from 2008 levels by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2040.

“To get us to this stage of emissions reduction, we’ve been very concentrated on making investments in our infrastructure that would help us achieve our goal of net-zero emissions,” says Principal Deane. “Beyond these enhancements, it will take strategic partnerships and learning from others to meet our goals in the future. We’re very grateful to Sustainable Kingston for their partnership and for showing leadership in the Kingston community with regard to sustainability.”

Working with Sustainable Kingston to promote local environmental awareness, Queen’s is an event partner for the upcoming 2022 Kingston Climate Change Symposium in January. Sustainable Kingston hosts the symposium annually in partnership with the City of Kingston, and the event brings together local and national leaders on climate change for a series of talks and conversations.

Learn more about the Sustainable Kingston Awards and the Kingston Climate Change Symposium on the Sustainable Kingston website.