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Nottingham Trent University joins Nature Positive Universities Alliance

NTU also named as second most sustainable university in the world.

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has become a founding signatory of the Nature Positive Universities Alliance, which was launched at COP15 in Montreal on 8th December 2022.

    NTU joins Nature Positive Universities Alliance
    Nottingham Trent University is now part of a global network of founding universities that have joined the Nature Positive Universities Alliance

    The Alliance is a global network of universities that have made an official pledge to work towards halting, preventing and reversing nature loss by addressing their own impacts and restoring ecosystems harmed by their activities.

    At the same time, NTU has also been ranked as the second most sustainable university in the world in the UI Green Metric – a rise on last year’s fourth position. The UI Green Metric consists of more than 900 universities from 84 countries and each institution is ranked on six indicators including infrastructure, waste, water, transportation, and education.

    Charmaine Morrell, Head of Sustainability at Nottingham Trent University, said: “NTU is delighted and proud to be one of the founding universities of the Nature Positive Universities Alliance, as well as being named as the second most sustainable university in the world. Sustainability is one of the key themes of our University, Reimagined strategy, demonstrating the high priority we place on it.

    “Whilst this is a cause for celebration, there is still more to be done. We now look to work towards the elements set out in the Pledge not only increasing our own sustainability, but as an educational establishment, use that to help and influence the community around us. We all need to work together to help address the environmental crisis affecting us all.”

    The Nature Positive Universities Alliance was founded by the University of Oxford and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a movement to avert climate catastrophe and mass extinction and brings higher education institutions together to use their unique power and influence as drivers of positive change. By publicly tackling their own supply chains and operational impacts on nature, universities can help guide the wider community on a path to address the twin climate and ecological crises.

    The Alliance also includes a Student Ambassador Programme, where over 100 students from across 35 countries are taking action toward nature positive awareness and approaches on their campuses.

    NTU’s Biodiversity Policy demonstrates its commitment to protecting and enhancing biodiversity on its campuses. NTU is home to a number of IUCN Red Listed species including the Great Crested Newt, Peregrine Falcon, European Brown Hare, Pipistrelle Bat and Eurasian Badger; NTU collaborates with partners to ensure that their habitats are protected, and their activities are monitored.

    NTU is also an accredited hedgehog friendly campus at its City, Clifton and Brackenhurst campuses and undertake actions to increase suitability for hedgehogs which are vulnerable to extinction. Other recent actions include supporting student societies with wildflower planting and pond remedial works to increase their ecological value at Brackenhurst.

    E.J. Milner-Gulland, Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity at the Department of Biology, University of Oxford, and co-founder of the Nature Positive Universities Alliance, said: "As universities, we occupy a unique position in educating future leaders, researching solutions to environmental challenges, and influencing our communities and governments. By addressing our own institutions' environmental impacts, we can be powerful thought leaders while also directly contributing to restoring nature."


    More information can be found on the Nature Positive Universities Website here.

    An in-depth look at the work that NTU Sustainability undertakes can be found here.

    • Notes for editors

      Notes to editors

      Interviews with EJ Milner-Gulland, University of Oxford and Sam Barratt, UNEP are available on request. Media contact below:

      About Nature Positive Universities

      Nature Positive Universities began in 2022 as a partnership between UNEP and the University of Oxford, established off the back of research by the Department of Biology into the University’s biodiversity footprint. The aim is to engage Universities in the prioritisation of nature restoration within the higher education sector, which will form a major contribution to the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and the Sustainable Development Goals. Universities have a substantial role to play in moving urgently from degrading nature to restoring it: our students are our future leaders, we create knowledge and nurture thinkers, and we directly impact the planet as land owners and consumers. Uniting universities for ecosystem restoration therefore has wider impact into our local communities and beyond.

      More information can be found at www.naturepositiveuniversities.net

      About the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

      UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

      About the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

      The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and partners, covers terrestrial as well as coastal and marine ecosystems. A global call to action, it will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration. Find out how you can contribute to the UN Decade. Follow #GenerationRestoration.

      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.

      The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.

      NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked second best university in the UK in the Uni Compare Top 100 rankings (2021/2022). It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).

      NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with nearly 39,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.

      Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.

      NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data) It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.

      75% of NTU students go on to graduate-level employment or graduate-entry education / training within fifteen months of graduating (Guardian University Guide 2021).

      NTU is ranked 2nd most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).

    Published on 9 December 2022
    • Category: Press office