Sustainability and the Environment is one of the high-level priorities in Connections – the QUT Strategy 2023 to 2027. This reflects our ongoing commitment to living lightly upon the earth and reducing our impact on the environment, while improving our institutional resilience.
We aim to tackle global challenges and achieve sustainability through our research, teaching programs, campus operations and partnerships.
Our vision is to be recognised as a leader in sustainability research, education and practice.
Our sustainability action plan provides the roadmap for the university to achieve positive environmental sustainability outcomes.
About the plan
Our sustainability action plan progress report (PDF file, 1.5 MB)
Our sustainability policy supports our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment and contributing to meeting the challenges that will lead to a more sustainable world.
Through the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, QUT has committed to addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through our research, education, operations and leadership. QUT reports on its contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals annually through the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings and the QS Sustainability Rankings.
We recognise climate change as a critical issue requiring all individuals and organisations to respond. Our Climate Change Statement confirms our commitment to reducing activities that result in greenhouse gas emissions.
Located between V Block and M Block at our Gardens Point campus, the SHED is an accessible and inclusive hub where staff and students can meet to share ideas, participate in sustainability programs and learn to take simple actions to create a sustainable future. The SHED was developed using best practice sustainability principles and has been shortlisted in the Next Generation Learning & Skills category of the 2023 Green Gown Awards Australasia.
A QUT study of the US credit default swap (CDS) market’s response to green innovation in the form of green patents found that firms with more green patents had lower borrowing costs and higher credit ratings.
Australia could boost funding to transfer sustainable technology to developing countries and make technology and data open and accessible to help implement the UN Pact for the Future, QUT Intellectural Property and Innovation Law Professor Matthew Rimmer said.
Our researchers are working on many different sustainability challenges and solutions – from environmental conservation and clean energy to gender equality and social justice. They are exploring the environmental, social, economic, cultural and legal dimensions of sustainability in collaboration with government, industry and communities.
Learn more about how QUT’s research centres address the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
Today’s students will guide the world onto a sustainable path in the years ahead. We want to give them the knowledge and skills to navigate that transition in their careers and lives. We are integrating a focus on sustainability into all of our undergraduate degrees, and we offer a range of courses for those who want to explore sustainability in more depth.
QUT currently sources 50% of its energy from a new solar farm in Columboola. CS Energy buys 100% of the output of the solar farm from owners Luminous Energy and on sell it to QUT, Griffith, and CQU. This significantly reduces our carbon footprint and provides a pathway to achieve full carbon neutrality on our total electricity consumption.
In addition, the university has nine solar PV arrays on buildings across Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove campuses and the new Banyo Pilot Plant Precinct, with a total capacity of 1MW. All solar energy produced is consumed on site – reducing the need for grid electricity- thereby reducing costs and associated carbon emissions.
The QUT Community Grow Club has started with a new airgarden at both Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove campuses. We are building a community of growers sharing skills and teaching others how to grow an edible, sustainable garden.
The harvested food is given to those in our own QUT community who need it most via the QUT Guild Food Bank.
QUT has recycling in place to reduce waste on campus including:
In collaboration with our partners in higher education, industry, government, business and the wider community, we are committed to reducing our carbon emissions and addressing global and local sustainability challenges.
QUT has partnered with two Australian companies working in solar research and development on a project to produce perovskite solar cells that are significantly cheaper than traditional solar cells with comparable efficiency.
Google Australia has partnered with QUT and the Australian Acoustics Observatory (A2O) to develop an AI model using automatic audio detection to identify and monitor bird species.
The strategic partnership between QUT and Australian-based battery minerals producing company Lava Blue won the Industry Engagement Award in the 2023 Australian Financial Review Higher Education awards.
QUT has received $5 million from the Australian Research Council to fund the ARC Research Hub in Zero-emission Power Generation for Carbon Neutrality.
The HDR Design Sprints aim to bridge the academia-industry gap through design thinking, and see QUT HDR students work in transdisciplinary teams to address some of the most critical sustainability challenges.
