Sustainability and the environment

Line of offshore wind turbines rising out of the sea against a sunset

Exploring our impact on the World

The future of the planet is at stake – and our research is exploring how we can help protect it

Climate change and green infrastructure. Clean water and sanitation. The impact of plastics and pharmaceuticals. Low carbon design. Ecological systems and biodiversity.

These are just a handful of our research areas within the Sustainability and Environment theme. Led by Professor Steve Fletcher, our research promotes environmental awareness and we develop techniques for evaluating and improving damage to land and marine ecosystems.

Sustainability is also an integral part of the University's strategy – we aim to become a climate-positive university by 2030.

Our plastics research

Through our Revolution Plastics initiative, we're working with partners in business, government and academia around the world to find innovative solutions to the planet's plastic pollution crisis. This is supported by our research centres. From pioneering research into plastic-degrading enzymes through to our multi-disciplinary approach to inform blue governance policies around the world.

Revolution Plastics

Our collaborative initiative to transform the way we make, use and dispose of plastics.

Fashion design by Ashley Sookhai Bassett. Photo by Tom Buller.

Centre for Enzyme Innovation

Our research into enzyme-enabled solutions for the circular recycling of plastics.

Centre for Blue Governance

Our multi-disciplinary research to inform policies to protect the world's freshwater and oceans.

Research areas of expertise

Many of the University's research areas deal directly with issues of sustainability and the environment.

Find out more about some of our areas of expertise, including:

Environmental processes and impacts

We're looking at the monitoring, movement and impacts of contaminants and pollutants in the environment, and identifying problems and potential solutions.

pollution from factory rising into a dark grey sky

Ecotoxicology and environmental monitoring

We're examining how humans impact ecosystems, and developing new ways to assess and counteract our impact on the environment.

Environmental change

We're looking at how the planet's climate has changed over time, and how human activities – and a growing population – is changing our environment today.

Aerial view of scenic Greenland Glaciers and icebergs

Renewable energy and sustainability analytics

Modelling to answer a host of questions, from how to produce renewable energy more cheaply, to how the associated logistics can be sustainable.

Resource economics and environmental policy

We examine how economics influences the preservation and sustainability of natural resources such as aquatic ecosystems.

Environmental technology and management

We're finding sustainable ways of tackling pollution, developing the technology needed to deal with new pollutants, and finding ways to build sustainable, environmentally-friendly urban landscapes.