Our path to climate neutrality 2035

We have a strategy for how we will achieve climate neutrality. It provides clarity and guidance for our decisions and our actions, enabling us to achieve our new climate goal – climate neutrality throughout the value chain by 2035.

The global climate is changing and there is little time in which to reverse the trend and curb climate emissions in society. Akademiska Hus’ operations are climate- and resource-intensive. We must therefore act assiduously to reduce our climate impact through our own measures and in collaboration with others.

Our new climate and energy strategy further strengthen the many initiatives and projects that are already paving the way for a more sustainable industry and for how we work together to create sustainable knowledge environments all over Sweden.

A serious approach to climate responsibility

Both important voices in the research world and opinion leaders like Greta Thunberg note that there is too much talk and too little action regarding the green transition among companies, organisations and politicians. And of course they have a point. That is why it is particularly important that in our new strategy, we not only say what we will achieve, but we must also show how we will get there. We now have a clear definition of what we mean by climate neutrality and intermediate targets for how we can reach the goal.

New approach to climate strategy

Having targets to reduce our climate footprint is nothing new for us at Akademiska Hus. We’ve been working on ambitiously reducing our climate impact for a long time. With our new strategy, we are accelerating our efforts to achieve climate neutrality throughout the value chain by identifying clear areas that require further work and development. This means:

• A common target – 2035. Previously, we had specific targets for climate neutrality as part of the management of each project. We are now clarifying and fine-tuning our ambition, with a common target for the entire business.
• Clearer intermediate targets. Intermediate targets will help us to precisely set the pace of our climate reduction.
• Transparency about the path forward. As a company, we are not alone in saying that we will reach climate neutrality, but our strategy maintains high transparency and precisely defines the actions we will take to achieve our target and intermediate targets.
  Roughly stated, there are two paths to climate neutrality: compensation/offsetting and reduction/mitigation. An important element of our strategy is that we clearly report how much of our transition will be achieved through actual climate mitigation efforts, and the extent to which offsetting measures can be accepted. This clarity creates credibility and transparency. You can find our definition of climate neutrality via the links below.
• Process for reduced new construction and more circularity. One important new aspect of our strategy is that going forward, we will work based on a process that will reduce new construction. A needs analysis in the early stages allows for a more sustainable and long-term design to promote efficient use of space that will meet the current and future needs of the customer, while strengthening the campus identity. Alternative solutions will be tested to steer away from new construction and towards a more efficient use of the existing property portfolio, where new additions are long-term, robust and circular, and where the life cycle of both the building’s structure and its components is taken into account. A key issue will be the circular transition with new working methods, where we ensure that second-hand comes first.
• Greater focus on energy. We have long had the target of a 50 per cent reduction in the amount of delivered energy by 2025, compared with a baseline level in 2000. This target remains and includes all energy delivered to Akademiska Hus, including energy that our customers use in their operations. To achieve this overarching energy target, while also moving towards our climate target, we are active in three main areas – Reduce, Collaborate and Promote. Read more under “Our energy initiatives”.