HSG’s campus offers an inspiring learning and working environment. In line with its strategic goal of ‘walking the talk’, HSG strives towards sustainable operations incl. a net zero campus, providing an inclusive and diverse space for studying and work, and ensuring responsible investments. Furthermore, we aim to make sustainability visible on campus and beyond.
In 2019, the University of St.Gallen signed the Global Climate Letter for Universities and Colleges, part of the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero campaign. Based on this commitment, a detailed climate roadmap has been developed, including two climate targets:
These targets cover all of HSG's activities and involve the phased implementation of various reduction levers, with academic travel, procurement, food, and GHG accounting improvements being prioritised.
To identify and prioritise emission reduction projects, it is important to understand one’s carbon footprint. The University of St.Gallen’s annual GHG accounting and reporting is based on the standards defined in the GHG Protocol, defining boundaries based on the operational control approach. The majority of HSG’s GHG emissions result from Scope 3 activities, with downstream transportation (student mobility), purchased goods and services, and business travel as major emission hotspots. As every GHG accounting, the calculations are an approximation partly based on assumptions and/or extrapolation. The GHG accounting will be continued on an annual basis to track progress towards our climate goals.
Aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative, our climate strategy focuses on reducing GHG emissions through a detailed Net Zero Roadmap. The roadmap identifies specific levers that have been developed in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders to ensure their feasibility, budgetary viability, and cultural fit. This collaborative approach strengthens our ability to successfully implement the measures and achieve our climate targets.
Since 2025, implementation has begun on the following priority levers. These were prioritised based on their contribution to our GHG inventory, their emissions reduction potential, and their fit within HSG’s specific context:
As GHG data and accounting form the foundation of our climate strategy, we also consider continuous improvements in this area to be a key priority lever. Please refer to the GHG Accounting section for more information.
As part of the detailed Net Zero Roadmap, several additional reduction levers covering all GHG emission categories have been identified. These levers need to be implemented to ensure that HSG achieves its climate targets. They cover areas such as courses and university partnerships, commuting, waste, and AI.
Since 2026, six additional levers have been progressively implemented, grouped into three main areas of focus:
The following levers aim to deepen and complement the priority reduction levers described above:
The following lever address new developments in form of the rapidly evolving use of AI and its environmental impacts:
Despite ongoing reduction efforts, residual emissions will remain and need to be addressed through carbon credits from nature-based and/or technology-based projects:
We continuously work to improve the quality of our GHG data and accounting processes. To this end, we are developing an internal machine learning-based tool to significantly increase the efficiency and accuracy of GHG accounting.
In parallel, we aim to increase the share of activity-based data used in our GHG inventory, particularly for Scope 3, Category 1 (Purchased Goods and Services) and Category 2 (Capital Goods). This will enable more accurate emissions calculations and strengthen the overall quality of our GHG inventory.
Reports from previous years can be provided upon request.
Increasing energy efficiency, decarbonizing heating and cooling, and boosting renewable power generation on campus are central goals of our climate action. Transitioning to climate-friendly building operations is a long-term project, that the University of St.Gallen has started already more than 10 years ago.
During this time, several achievements have been made. HSG’s Buildings and Technology team has implemented various innovative measures to optimise and reduce energy consumption. Concretely, this led to a decrease of campus energy consumption by more than a third since 2013, despite the fact that the number of students has increased by almost 40% over the same period. Furthermore, HSG has significantly exceeded the cantonal energy reduction targets for the 2014-2024 period, making the University a leader among large energy consumers in the canton of St.Gallen.
Lighthouse initiatives include the new SQUARE building which is heated entirely with geothermal energy, and the various PV installations that cover currently around 20 % of HSG’s annual campus electricity demand.
The Canton of St.Gallen as owner of most of the buildings is an important stakeholder in all infrastructure efforts. Two major projects in the next years will help to shape a more climate-friendly university campus:
At the University of St.Gallen (HSG), downstream transportation emissions are related to student life, such as exchange travel, commuting, and participation in external events. These emissions represent almost 40 % of the university's carbon footprint. A major contributor to this footprint is long-distance travel for exchange semesters and offsite courses, which saw an increase in the last few years due to a return to pre-pandemic activity levels. Reducing downstream emissions is challenging. Nevertheless, HSG continues to explore ways to mitigate these emissions while maintaining its commitment to providing rich learning experiences for students. For example, this includes sensitising students to choose low-carbon modes of transport for inner-European exchange travel, and assessing the added value for the topic if a course seeks to take place abroad.
At the same time, we as a university have the unique opportunity to leverage our student's curiosity and innovation mindset to advance sustainability and climate action on campus and in the St.Gallen region. Several projects for emission reduction are student-driven, as shown by the following examples:
Since 2007, HSG has been certified for the near-natural design of its landscape by the Nature & Economy Foundation, which promotes nature in residential areas and recognises exemplary areas and environmental planning. In the last years, various efforts were undertaken to further increase the biodiversity on campus, such as façade greenings or replacements of non-indigenous species with indigenous ones.
HSG has been a Blue University since 2016. As part of its Blue Community commitment, the university promotes the consumption of tap water and the recognition of water as a public good. Over the last years, several measures have been implemented to further reduce HSG’s water consumption and to promote awareness of water issues.
HSG aims to adopt circular economy practices on campus. Our university has a comprehensive waste management system and tracks and recycles different types of waste. Furthermore, if possible, old IT devices and furniture are reused or externally refurbished. Nevertheless, reducing waste and reaching more advanced levels of a circular economy remains a challenge. For example, a pilot project to implement a reusable cup system on campus had no long-term success, unfortunately.
Equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion are central aspects of HSG's pursuit of excellence, fairness and social impact. We see diversity as an opportunity, and respect as indispensable. To ensure this, specific advice centres work on further developing the University in this regard and ensure a comprehensive advisory service.
The University of St.Gallen uses various funds to support students financially to enable access to quality education, regardless of the financial background. The related activities are coordinated by the Advice Center for Study Funding.
Furthermore, the University of St.Gallen has a significant positive impact on the surrounding region. This includes monetary and non-monetary effects, such as positive purchasing power effects for SMEs, trade, and tourism, strengthening the regional labour market, as well as innovation opportunities and positives effects on the knowledge landscape and the attractiveness of the St.Gallen region.
Transforming towards sustainability does not only include operational measures but also creating a sustainability culture on campus. Our university is working towards that through various initiatives. This includes creating awareness for sustainability issues and ensuring visibility for existing measures.
Furthermore, the strong integrative approach of our university leads to numerous interconnections and overlaps between teaching, research, student engagement, and campus. The resulting initiatives for implementing campus sustainability make our campus a living lab where learning experiences and sustainability innovation come together. For example, students from the Master’s Certificate in Managing Climate Solution successfully initiated campus projects such as the PV installation on the gym roof financed by crowdfunding, or the climate stairs. Co-curricular student engagement is another driver in this field, with numerous successful implementation projects throughout the years.