AUC Releases First Sustainability Report

The Office of Sustainability at The American University in Cairo (AUC) released the University’s inaugural sustainability report, as part of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The Sustainability Report 2020 highlights AUC’s commitment to implementing sustainable practices within the University and raises awareness of how the community can improve in helping the environment. The report will be released every other year, alternating with AUC’s Carbon Footprint Report.

“By establishing this inaugural sustainability report, we hope AUC can serve as a model for similar institutions in the Middle East and North Africa,” said Yasmin Mansour, sustainability officer in the Office of Sustainability. 

A sustainability report provides information about the economic, environmental and social performance of an organization, company or institution. In 2017, the Office of Sustainability began an initiative to produce a holistic Sustainability Report, which includes not just carbon emissions, but other sustainability factors such as community health, workers’ rights, research and education., After several months of collecting and compiling data from offices and departments across the University last year, the Office of Sustainability developed AUC’s Sustainability Report 2020. This report recognizes AUC’s commitment to sustainable practices and identifies areas in which the University can improve to become an international leader in sustainability. 

The Sustainability Report 2020 also highlights AUC’s engagement with the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. All the goals are linked to at least one of the chapters of the report to showcase AUC’s commitment to global sustainability efforts. This correspondence examines the critical role of higher education in achieving and implementing the SDGs.

The Office of Sustainability also published AUC’s Carbon Footprint 2020. While this is not a Carbon Footprint Report year, the Office of Sustainability has calculated AUC’s carbon emissions for the 2019 academic year and published it in the Carbon Footprint 2020 brochure. 

The Office of Sustainability also celebrated this year’s Earth Day digitally. For the past 50 years on April 22, people have come together around the world to celebrate planet Earth. In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, this year’s Earth Day has gone digital, taking celebrations and campaigns to online platforms. In alignment with this global transition, the Office of Sustainability has launched its own digital Earth Day campaign, using its Facebook and Instagram page to educate AUCians and encourage them to engage with the environmental movement.

You can read the report here. You can view a brochure of the report here.