Energy and climate

The stakeholder focus group interviews confirmed the relevance of the energy theme within the Sustainability Strategy. The VŠE management has identified SDG 7 – Affordable and clean energy, as a high priority. Energy consumption and energy price volatility significantly impact the University’s operating costs and indoor environment quality. The UNILEAD II project outputs show that more than half of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by Czech universities are related to their energy consumption. This places energy and climate issues among the priority areas with the highest potential for environmental protection. Internal and external stakeholders have emphasised the importance of implementing SDG 13 – Climate action. VŠE is therefore committed to reducing its operational energy intensity and diversifying its energy mix. The University will also strive to improve the indoor environment throughout the campus. VŠE will actively involve students and staff in meeting these commitments and tasks arising from them.

In line with our strategic commitment to collect data according to the GHG Protocol from 2025 for Scope 1, 2 and 3, our university has established cooperation with CI3, the only accredited partner of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in the Czech Republic. The company specializes in calculating the carbon footprint of organizations and also helps with the development of decarbonization strategies.

We are now in the finalization phase of the methodology for calculating our carbon footprint according to the GHG Protocol. We also measure according to this methodology in such a way that the Scope 1 and 2 areas are measured at three organizational units: the main campus in Prague, the Administration of Special Purpose Facilities (student dormitories and canteens) and the Faculty of Management in Jindřichův Hradec. For the Scope 3 area, we are supplementing the data by faculty to get a clearer picture.

Here you can find an older example of our carbon footprint calculation.