Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) council has passed a motion mandating the environmental officer to write a non-binding policy on carbon costing and reporting, including a schedule of carbon costs of the union’s activities.
The motion also mandates that a review of this policy should take place once per academic year, with such a review to be brought forward to TCDSU council as a discussion item.
The environmental officer is also required to bring a discussion item to notify TCDSU council of any substantial alterations to the policy, while also notifying the TCDSU Oversight Commission of any such alterations.
The motion was proposed by TCDSU Environmental Officer Áine Hennessey and seconded by STEM Convenor Daniel O’Reilly.
Speaking in favour of the motion, O’Reilly said: “We are hoping to make what is essentially going to be what is essentially a list of different union activities and how much we estimate they cost in terms of carbon.”
“We’re used to seeing cost quoted in euro but of course for the long-term welfare of the planet it doesn’t really matter how much euro we expend it matters how much carbon dioxide we expend.”
Also speaking in favour of the motion, TCDSU welfare and equality officer Leah Keogh said: “Legally Trinity College have to reduce carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and we’re nowhere near that.”
“This is a good, kind of practical thing that we as a union can do”, Keogh said.
Last month, TCDSU and Trinity Environmental Society launched a petition urging candidates in the upcoming provost elections to prioritise climate action during their term.
The petition is calling on candidates to commit to a number of measures to increase the steps College is taking to tackle climate change.
The petition called on the next provost to create a joint office of sustainability and civic engagement with at least 10 full-time staff. It also calls for the office to have a dedicated space for students to meet for sustainability initiatives.
TCDSU and the Environmental Society have recommended the foyer of the Berkeley library previously used by Tangent for the space.
Another demand is that climate change and sustainability training modules should be mandatory for all staff on campus. The petitioners said that this would “benefit personal skill sets, teaching and research as well as benefiting Trinity’s standing in international rankings”.
The petition also calls for the next provost to expand existing sustainability training resources for staff and to schedule annual online half-hour “refresher” sessions for all current and incoming personnel.
