The University of British Columbia is a place to live, work and learn sustainably. Situated in a spectacular natural setting, the UBC Vancouver campus is bordered by ocean, forest and the fertile delta of the mighty Fraser River.

UBC is also a place of great minds—a place where people ask big questions and seek solutions to the challenges of our time. In the UBC Campus Sustainability Office, we focus our minds on creating a university infrastructure that runs as sustainably as possible. We also bring together UBC’s operational, academic and research expertise, to use the campus as a living lab to learn from—and to lead the transformation to a more sustainable world.

This approach provides an opportunity to create resilient communities; to use energy wisely and pursue alternative clean energy sources; to respect water as a precious resource; to turn waste into a desirable commodity; and to live, work and learn in harmony with nature. Already a model green university, there is still much to do at UBC to maintain and advance sustainability on campus. We continue putting our heads together to discover healthier, more efficient ways to operate that won’t compromise the future, but instead will help advance the evolution to sustainability.

For details, explore our themes, find out how we contribute to a sustainable campus, and find ways to get involved in sustainability at UBC.  Information on UBC Okanagan Sustainability initaitves can be found here.

History

UBC is among hundreds of leading educational institutions that signed 1990's Talloires Declaration. These institutions pledged to make sustainability the foundation for campus operations, research, and teaching. They're encouraging their faculty, staff, and students to factor ecological, social, and economic consequences into all of their personal and professional decisions.

UBC has led the campus sustainability movement in a variety of ways over the last decade:

1997

UBC became Canada's first university to adopt a sustainable development policy.

1998

A year later, we became the country's first university to open a campus Sustainability Office.

2002

UBC discovered that our more than a dozen unique initiatives, had made UBC Canada's leader in campus sustainability.

2003, 2005 and 2006

UBC was Canada's first and only university to receive Green Campus Recognition from the U.S.-based National Wildlife Federation.

2005

UBC's vision statement adopted sustainability as a core value by including a commitment to "promote the values of a civil and sustainable society".

2006

UBC published Canada's first campus-wide sustainability strategy after a consultation process with 20 departments, all faculties, all major student organizations, and over 100 individuals.

2007

UBC added 21 targets to the initial 68 in the sustainability strategy, representing UBC Okanagan’s commitments. The first progress report against the initial strategy was also published.

2008

UBC President Stephen Toope and five other BC university and college presidents were the first to sign the Climate Change Statement of Action for Canada.