A breathless email last week from EAUC:
"We are calling for all post-16 education institutions and support bodies in the UK and Ireland to declare a Climate Emergency and to commit to the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendation to adopt as a minimum a 2050 net zero emissions target. We will collate the education sectors response to this and send to UK and Ireland Governments to lobby them to act and show the impact and leadership of our sector on this crucial agenda."
There's the usual poor grammar and mangled syntax in this confection, but set that aside. What EAUC is really doing here is catching up with its members a few of whom have already taken this step – although what else they have done, apart from noisily declamation – is less clear.
But doesn't this just miss the point? After all, it's not up to universities to "declare" a climate emergency – because it's obvious that there is one. Recognition, rather than the Declaration would seem more appropriate (together with appropriate policies) and might avoid accusations of grandstanding – but it doesn't sound half as good in a press release.
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