Climate
New mandatory rules for the procurement of goods and services
New principles from SDU's management make sustainable choices a part of everyday life for all employees and are our common tool for achieving SDU's climate goals.
Our procurement of goods and services is the University’s largest CO2e emitter, with eight times higher CO2e emissions than our second largest source. By focusing on sustainable consumption, we can together significantly reduce the University's climate footprint.
Therefore, the Executive Board has adopted SDU's consumption principles, which are mandatory to comply with prior to any acquisition for the University.
The four core points of the consumption principles
1. Reduce: We must reduce our consumption through new methods, repair and upgrading of existing goods.
2. Reuse: We need to use what is already available. This means that goods from SDU’s internal marketplace, stock items at SDU’s central warehouse, etc., must be selected if they meet the need.
3. Respect: We must buy sustainably when new purchases are necessary. This means that sustainable opportunities must be prioritised, even if they cost more in some cases. This also means that SDU's procurement agreements, which increasingly take sustainability into account, must be used.
4. Recycle: We have to send things on to circulation. Either on SDU’s internal marketplace or by donation or sale when an item can still be used.
The four principles guide us to sustainable choices in everyday life.
Nothing new under the sun
The principles draw on old values. In the past, we patched holey clothes and recycled jars for home pickling. The breadcrumbs came from dry loaves, and we’d use the tea bag one more time to brew another cup. It was all about minimising consumption.
These principles also serve as a compass for SDU. They identify the areas where we need to make things easy and possible to live up to the values. The principles may not always be easy to follow, but the idea is that we need to get better at avoiding purchases, repairing goods, buying second-hand alternatives, selling goods back to the supplier or passing them on to a colleague in another department.
Read more about the new mandatory rules
On SDUnet you will find the service page about the consumption principles. Here you will find a detailed review of the code of practice. You can also participate in the info meetings held at each faculty to learn more about how you can contribute to our common goals.