This motion was passed at GUCU Branch meeting on 11/12/2023
Goldsmiths UCU Notes That:
- Climate change is a catastrophic threat to humanity and the rest of nature
- Goldsmiths senior management announced an ambitious response to climate change after declaring a climate emergency in August 2019
- In the last two years little has been communicated in regard to the Goldsmiths Green New Deal. It is unclear when https://www.gold.ac.uk/about/gnd/ was last updated and the email account greennewdeal (@gold.ac.uk) is apparently unsupported
- People and Planet assessed Goldsmiths’ record on sustainability as a ‘fail’ in their 2022/23 survey of university responses to climate change. Goldsmiths is ranked 121 out of 153 colleges People & Planet University League | People & Planet (peopleandplanet.org)
This Branch Believes
- Failure to commit to serious action on climate change has serious ethical, practical and reputational consequences
- Merely performative approaches to environmental action should be rejected
- Action to achieve net zero and to adapt to the increasingly visible consequences of climate change requires a continuous programme of evolving policies
- It is essential to communicate clearly to staff, students and society on a regular basis such evolving practical policies
This Branch Resolves
- To call on Goldsmiths Senior Management to recommit to a Green New Deal
- To call on Goldsmiths Senior Management to work towards net zero by 2025
- To call on Goldsmiths Senior Management to provide an annual report on progress towards these goals
- For GUCU to campaign using social and conventional media to promote the above