UK University Bans Beef to Fight Climate Change

At the start of the new academic year next month, United Kingdom-based college Goldsmiths—which is part of the University of London—will no longer serve beef on campus. The initiative is part of Goldsmiths’ goal to be a carbon-neutral campus by 2025. In addition to banning beef, it will impose a 10 pence ($0.12) tax on plastic bottles and cups to discourage the use of single-use plastics, the proceeds of which will go to fund eco-friendly student initiatives. Over the next six years, educators at Goldsmiths will compile a comprehensive plan to create future initiatives that will help the school achieve its carbon-neutral goal by 2025. “The growing global call for organisations to take seriously their responsibilities for halting climate change is impossible to ignore. Though I have only just arrived at Goldsmiths, it is immediately obvious that our staff and students care passionately about the future of our environment and that they are determined to help deliver the step change we need to cut our carbon footprint drastically and as quickly as possible,” Goldsmiths Warden Frances Corner said. “Declaring a climate emergency cannot be empty words. I truly believe we face a defining moment in global history and Goldsmiths now stands shoulder to shoulder with other organisations willing to call the alarm and take urgent action to cut carbon use.” Additionally, the school will install more solar panels campuswide, switch to a 100-percent clean-energy supplier, offer more curriculum options that focus on environmental education, and, starting December 1, 2019, will no longer hold investments in companies that generate more than 10 percent of their revenue from the extraction of fossil fuels.