Climate Action Barometer
The only climate benchmark study
designed for the international education sector.
A global initiative
led by international educators.
There is an inevitable tension between international education and climate action. International education is a force for good, but sustaining it requires students (and staff) to travel across borders, generating substantial global carbon emissions each year.
The climate crisis is here and we have a part to play in tackling it. This offers an unparalleled opportunity to reimagine our work – not only to reduce the emissions associated with international education, but to create better outcomes for students, staff and our planet.
The Climate Action Barometer (CAB) is a rolling global benchmark that tracks and compares sustainability policies, practices and emissions for international education across time.
Created by and for international educators, CAB is the only climate benchmark tool designed specifically for the sector. It measures climate action across seven core components:
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Staff engagement
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Student sentiment and engagement
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International marketing and recruitment
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Learning Abroad
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Transnational education and global campuses
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Sectoral engagement and collaboration
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Emissions reduction and travel policy.
By signing up to the CAB, international offices and sustainability teams around the world can track and measure their performance to help make the changes the world needs – and the changes that students demand.
Want to know more about how you can measure and mitigate your institution’s climate impact? Get in touch!
Why join the
Climate Action Barometer?
Lead the way
on climate action
Join a leading group of education providers and gain international recognition for your leadership in climate action. Help drive the metrics for measuring and mitigating the global impact of climate change in international education.
Gain the data and insights for positive change
Access data and insights to inform your decision-making and identify priority areas for climate action. Gain tips and tools to incorporate sustainability into your messaging and recruitment, enhancing your competitive advantage with students.
Make your commitment tangible and trackable
Demonstrate more than just a commitment to sustainability – demonstrate your institution’s commitment to measuring, comparing and tracking progress against your peers, nationally and globally, over time.
Be the change that your students want to see
Contribute meaningfully to your institution’s sustainability goals, respond to growing student concerns and do your part to lessen international education’s impact of climate change.
‘The Climate Action Barometer presented our international team
with the perfect opportunity to show leadership.’
Tim Field
Director International, The University of Sydney
FAQs.
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What elements of international education does the CAB cover?We take a broad view of international education because we understand that no two institutions prioritise the same services or structure their international teams in the same way. The CAB measures climate action across seven core components: Global staff engagement Student sentiment and engagement International marketing and recruitment Education abroad Transnational education, global campuses Sectoral engagement and collaboration Emissions reduction and travel policy.
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What’s involved in the data collection process?The questions in the Climate Action Barometer do not involve surveying students, you will be able to answer many of the CAB questions using information you already hold within the International Office or global team. For some questions you will need to ask your sustainability, central data office or HR team to assist. This should not be too onerous a task for them, as they will in many cases be able to answer yes or no or to provide data that already exists. In our analysis and reporting process, all data is reported anonymously and conforms fully with data protection legislation. We collect the data for this Survey on a secure platform which uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption (also known as HTTPS) for all transmitted data.
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Who is best placed within an institution to coordinate the data collection?The majority of the questions relate directly to practices and policies within the International/Global function of an institution, so the International or Global team would be best placed to coordinate the process. If you already participate in an international operations benchmarking exercise, such as the AUIDF BIO report (Australia) or the International Education Benchmark (global), the staff member responsible for coordinating that would be a good candidate.
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What is the expected time commitment of my international team if we sign up?We estimate it should take approximately 1 day (8.25 hours) of an international team member’s time, spread over a period of 4 to 6 weeks to gather the information for the survey. The time taken to complete the travel data component varies considerably depending on the quality of the data you have available.
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We already contribute to other sustainability-related surveys and campaigns. How does the CAB fit in and what are the benefits of taking part?We are very cognisant of the workloads at institutions, especially in international and sustainability teams. That’s why we have been careful to design the survey so that it complements rather than duplicates existing commitments. The CAB gives international teams a clearer understanding of how they can contribute to overall university climate ambitions. This is particularly important for reducing Scope 3 emissions as we know that international business travel, flights emissions for study abroad and for incoming students can amount to a significant proportion of a university’s overall footprint. Taking part in the Barometer should therefore support a university’s broader commitment to campaigns such as the Education Race to Zero, and should not duplicate data collection for other existing frameworks, like AASHE Stars.
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What is the expected time commitment of my sustainability team if we sign up?The workload for staff in the sustainability team will not be onerous as much of the data collation will be undertaken by the international team. We estimate that, depending on the structure of your institution, it will take no more than half a day of Sustainability team time, spread over a period of 4 to 6 weeks.