DE MONTFORT University is set to update its climate action plan early next year as it moves towards becoming carbon neutral by 2032.
The climate action plan, officially titled the Carbon Plan 2018-2025, set a whole series of carbon reduction targets aimed at driving down greenhouse gas emissions and has been shared, and formed the basis for partnerships, with local government and community groups.
DMU has official climate action partnerships with seven local authorities and a series of community groups, including a three-year-old £1.3 million project that embeds climate action and sustainability within deprived neighbourhoods.
Climate action plan
DMU’s climate action plan was first established in 2011 with its Carbon Plan, which was subsequently updated and renewed in 2018.
The present Carbon Plan 2018-2025 is a detailed and strategic framework plan for measuring, planning, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and related climatic impacts.
A series of ambitious targets were set around energy reduction and low-carbon energy use that aimed to both save costs and reduce greenhouse gas emission.
Those targets were back up by detailed governance and reporting measures to show the success of the action plan.
Figures for 2024-25, the latest period available, show that in the last four years the total amount of energy used across all buildings on the university campus and two DMU-owned halls of residence has decreased by 25,515 gigajoules.
In 2021-22, a total of 117,440 gigajoules of energy was used and in 2024-25, the figure was down to 91,925 gigajoules. The amount of low-carbon energy as part of the total is also now at 48.9%.
While the action plan focuses on energy controls and emissions targets, it also includes measures to implement a comprehensive programme of student and staff engagement projects to highlight the need for climate action
This has included the creation of the SDG Fellows, a group of 160 DMU staff committed to climate action and spreading awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A similar organisation for students will be established in early 2026.
Each year, more than 20 events are held to coincide with the COP climate action talks by world leaders. In 2025, more than 500 students and staff attended events.
The university’s Education for Sustainable Development programme which has seen climate action and the SDGs embedded into more then 200 modules in the taught curriculum is another important plank of the .climate action plan.
The Carbon Plan 2018-2025 is now in the process of being updated and a new version released early next year. The Carbon Plan 2026-2032 will be a detailed and strategic framework to take DMU up to the date of its planned carbon neutrality.
Working with local government
DMU’s climate action plan has been shared with all local government authorities in Leicestershire and the university has entered into two formal pacts on the back of the document.
The university and Leicester City Council entered into a Climate Emergency Partnership along with Active Together, LLEP, Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, Midlands Net Zero Hub, National Grid, NHS East Leicestershire and Rutland CCG, Pick Everard, Severn Trent Water, UHL NHS Trust, University of Leicester.
The partnership provides a forum for discussion and co-ordination of activities to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of the climate change covering areas such as sharing knowledge on decarbonisation, skills/workforce training, procurement, energy networks and grid capacity, communications and engagement, education and research, and adaptation and nature recovery.
DMU are also co-founders of the Climate and Nature Pact with six local councils across Leicestershire, Leicester and Loughborough universities, energy firms, environmental organisations and charity groups.
DMU’s climate action plan was shared with all organisations, including the the local authorities of Leicestershire County, North West Leicestershire District, Charnwood Borough, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough, Blaby District and Oadby and Wigston Borough councils.
All organisations will share energy saving strategies and work together more strategically to make the region greener.
The core requirements of the pact are the need to act on climate change; reducing carbon emissions to net zero; reducing the impacts of climate change; halting ecological decline and supporting climate recovery; enabling climate action; and working together to deliver greater action.
The aim is to accelerate Leicestershire’s goal to become a net zero county by 2045 and the pact mirrors the work with the city partnership.
Karl Letten, the Sustainability Manager at DMU, said: “These partnerships as well as others with community groups and social enterprises come from the commitments made in our climate action plan.
“These partnerships will all continue in the updated Carbon Plan 2026-2032, which will be shared with all local authorities and community groups when it is published in early 2026.”
Working with local community groups
DMU has shared its Carbon Plan 2018-2025 with a whole series of community groups across the city and county as well as publicising the climate action plan through its communication channels and social media.
The strategic partnerships for Leicester and Leicestershire also include many community groups, but DMU has taken the work in the community to a new level with the three-year £1.3 million LEAF (Leicestershire Environmental Action and Future) project.
The National Lottery funded project includes five partner community groups in the most deprived areas of Leicester and is aimed at embedding sustainability and climate action within those organisations and neighbourhoods.
The basis for the project is rooted in DMU’s climate action plan and its emphasis on energy saving, low carbon fuels, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, governance, reporting, measurements, planning and climate-related impacts.
DMU’s full climate action plan can be viewed here