Sustainable Ca' Foscari

Managing the University’s carbon emissions 
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan

Every year, Ca' Foscari calculates its carbon footprint according to the GHG - Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a standard for the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions that allows better steering mitigation actions.

The 2022 University's carbon footprint accounted for 12.143 tCO₂ eq.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan

In 2022, the University drafted the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan, a document conceived by a scientific committee involving Elena Semenzin, Wilmer Pasut and Francesco Bosello, professors at the Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics.

file pdfClimate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan [ITA]1.65 M
file pdfPlan progress [ITA]107 K

The objective of the Plan is to propose a series of actions and a realistic programme for the gradual reduction of the University's carbon footprint, with the ambition of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing its resilience to the major present and future climate stressors, which are expected to worsen in the coming decades.

This main goal is broken down into more specific sub-objectives:

  • provide detailed information of the University's greenhouse gas emission levels;
  • deep dive into the main climate stressors and their effects on buildings, activities and key stakeholders;
  • inform about the actions that the University has taken and is taking to reduce its carbon footprint and increase its resilience to a changing climate;
  • report potential insufficient familiarity with such issues and suggest actions to improve knowledge;
  • propose a set of mitigation and adaptation initiatives, emphasising their potential effectiveness and feasibility, while providing advice for their implementation and monitoring;
  • raise awareness and sensitivity of all stakeholders regarding climate and climate impact to promote more resilient and sustainable behaviour.

The draft of the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan was positively assessed by the Academic Senate at its meeting held on 01 July 2022. The Plan was approved by the Board of Governors at its meeting held on 16 December 2022.

Carbon Management at Ca' Foscari

Since 2010, the University has been assessing and quantifying its carbon footprint and determining the main emission sources and processes involved.

From 2010 to 2014, this process was developed thanks to the "Carbon Management" project financed by Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea (Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, MATTM). Ca' Foscari has been the first Italian University to launch a carbon footprint quantification project, an experience that became the benchmark for drafting the "Guidelines for the Carbon Management of Italian Universities", published in July 2011.

The "2018-2020 University Plan for the Reduction of Carbon Emissions", published in December 2018, defined specific targets for the reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions, waste management, sustainable mobility, green procurement and resource use. The Plan has allowed implementing different actions - detailed in the annual Sustainability Reports - as well as fine-tuning the data collection processes, indicators and mapping required to define the areas in which Ca' Foscari has the greatest impact in relation to climate change issues.

file pdf2018-2020 University Plan for the Reduction of Carbon Emissions [ITA]453 K
file pdfUpdate of the 2018-2020 University Plan for the Reduction of Carbon Emissions [ITA]1.24 M

Last update: 23/04/2024