No 6722
Wednesday 13 December 2023
Vol cliv No 12
pp. 194–204
13 December, Wednesday. Last ordinary issue of the Reporter in Michaelmas Term.
19 December, Tuesday. Michaelmas Term ends.
25 December, Monday. Christmas Day. Scarlet Day.
5 January, Friday. Lent Term begins.
10 January, Wednesday. First ordinary issue of the Reporter in Lent Term.
16 January, Tuesday. Full Term begins.
23 January, Tuesday. Discussion by videoconference at 2 p.m. (see below).
The Vice‑Chancellor invites members of the Regent House, University and College employees, registered students and others qualified under the regulations for Discussions (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 111) to attend a Discussion by videoconference on Tuesday, 23 January 2024 at 2 p.m. The following item will be discussed:
1.Joint Report of the Council and the General Board, dated 6 December 2023, on a revised procedure for the investigation of an allegation of research misconduct (Reporter, 6721, 2023–24, p. 172).
Those wishing to join the Discussion by videoconference should email UniversityDraftsman@admin.cam.ac.uk from their University email account, providing their CRSid (if a member of the collegiate University), by 10 a.m. on the date of the Discussion to receive joining instructions. Alternatively contributors may email their remarks to contact@proctors.cam.ac.uk, copying ReporterEditor@admin.cam.ac.uk, by no later than 10 a.m. on the day of the Discussion for reading out by the Proctors,1 or may ask someone else who is attending to read the remarks on their behalf.
In accordance with the regulations for Discussions, the Chair of the Board of Scrutiny or any ten members of the Regent House2 may request that the Council arrange for one or more of the items listed for discussion to be discussed in person (usually in the Senate-House). Requests should be made to the Registrary, on paper or by email to UniversityDraftsman@admin.cam.ac.uk from addresses within the cam.ac.uk domain, by no later than 9 a.m. on the day of the Discussion. Any changes to the Discussion schedule will be confirmed in the Reporter at the earliest opportunity.
General information on Discussions is provided on the University Governance site at https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/governance/decision-making/discussions/.
1Any comments sent by email should please begin with the name and title of the contributor as they wish it to be read out and include at the start a note of any College and/or Departmental affiliations held.
2https://www.scrutiny.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/regent_house_roll/.
1. In Easter Term 2022, members of the Regent House presented a Grace proposing an end to all sponsorship and collaboration with companies involved in the fossil fuel industry (Reporter, 6666, 2021–22, p. 640) The Council responded by commissioning Nigel Topping to lead a study to analyse the likely impact of the Grace on the University’s research and teaching, and the Grace’s compatibility with the University’s mission and duties as a higher education charity. The Council received the Study1 in July 2023. It agreed to establish a working group to consider how best to implement the Study’s recommendations and consult with the Cambridge community on them. The Working Group reported to the Council on 15 October 2023.
2. Further to the Council’s Notice of 9 November 2023 (Reporter, 6718, 2023–24, p. 111), the Council now wishes to report to the Regent House on the four strands of work proposed by the Working Group to take forward the Topping Study’s recommendations. These four strands, together with the proposal for the creation of an office of an additional Pro-Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for sustainability, will provide the foundation for the development of a wider institutional strategy on climate and environmental sustainability covering both academic and operational activities.
3. The Working Group recommended, and the Council has agreed, that an institutional academic strategy in climate and sustainability, building upon the University’s interdisciplinary research strengths, capabilities and ambitions, be developed.
4. The Research Policy Committee has now established a group to take the lead on the elements of that strategy which relate to research into climate and environmental sustainability. It is proposed that this strand of work will be complemented by a second piece of work that focuses on education, reporting to the General Board’s Education Committee. Additional activities are also underway to progress other aspects of this strategy such as partnerships and philanthropy.
5. The Working Group recommended, and the Council has agreed, that a clear framework for quickly assessing the acceptability or otherwise of fossil fuel funding be developed as a priority.
6. At its meeting on 28 November 2023, the Committee on Benefactions and External and Legal Affairs discussed and provided feedback on an initial set of ideas for a revised process to review potential collaborations with, and funding from, fossil fuel companies. The Committee will have further in-depth discussions in early March 2024, with a view to agreeing a proposal in April.
7. The Council endorsed the Working Group’s recommendation that a sophisticated and properly informed framework for procurement which tracks the embedded emissions and companies’ performance toward net zero and uses these to choose between vendors, should be established.
8. The Procurement team has already committed to attaining the ISO 20400 sustainable procurement standard. In recent weeks the University has signed up to a carbon supplier tool as part of Cambridge’s collaboration with other universities on sustainable procurement. This exercise will commence with the University’s strategic suppliers, which are managed by the central Procurement team.
9. The Council agreed with the Working Group’s recommendation that the collegiate University community should be invited to meet and discuss the points raised in the Working Group’s report as soon as practicable.
10. The University’s Internal Communications Team has drawn up a communications plan that aims to enable members of the University community, including the student body, to comment on these matters. The engagement exercise started this term with a meeting of the Heads of Institutions on 12 December. Two further meetings, one for academic and professional services staff and one for students, are planned for early Lent Term 2024. The details of these meetings will be announced in the Reporter and invitations sent by email to all University staff and students. Comments and suggestions from these meetings will be fed back to those working on the different strands.
11. At its meeting in October 2023, the Council received a draft Strategic Framework for Sustainability and discussed where the University’s resources and effort should be focused to maximise Cambridge’s impact on addressing the global challenges associated with the climate crisis.
12. The Council is of the view that work on the draft Framework and the strands of work responding to the recommendations of the Working Group, together with the proposed appointment of a sixth Pro-Vice-Chancellor to lead in this area, now need to be sequenced properly to ensure that all initiatives are appropriately joined up and a coherent strategy can be developed as a result.
13. To this end, the draft Framework, in particular those aspects which align with the recommendations of the Working Group, will be used as a foundation for a new strategy. The Council’s comments on the draft Framework will help to inform that work.
14. As with the remit of the proposed creation of an additional office of Pro-Vice-Chancellor, it is recommended that the initial focus of the strategy will be on climate and environmental sustainability as being the most urgent and pressing areas of need, with the intention that the scope will broaden to other elements of the UN Sustainable Development Goals as progress is made. The strategy will be comprehensive, covering the University’s academic and operational activities. In its first iteration, it will integrate and enhance the University’s interdisciplinary research strengths, capabilities and ambitions and will encompass its educational offerings and outreach activities. It will also set out how the University will achieve a sustainable and resilient University estate, articulating the conditions necessary to meet the science-based targets in relation to climate and by enhancing biodiversity. In addition, it will promote the development of new and creative but achievable initiatives to further the University’s contributions in this area.
15. It is envisaged that the Council, together with the General Board, will discuss progress towards this strategy at their Strategic Awayday in March 2024.
1The Study is available at https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/documents/reports/FossilFuelStudy2023.pdf
The following ballot is currently open for voting by members of the Regent House:
•Election to the Board of Scrutiny in class (c)(i)
Voting closes at 5 p.m. on Monday, 18 December 2023 and members who were listed on the Roll of the Regent House promulgated on 6 November 2023 are eligible to vote. Voting information, including candidate statements and links to the voting portal, is available online at https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/ballots/voting/ [Raven access only].