Alexandria University’s Carbon Footprint (2022/2023)

During the very few past years, the climate change and the global warming facing the entire universe have gained much more attention due to their direct effects on the human life on earth. As a result, countries, organizations, and people have noticed that it is now the time to face these challenges and as an initial step, we must first determine or calculate the amount of pollution that we cause to our planet, then we shall work on ourselves to minimize this pollution. One of the most famous methods to monitor the climate change is to determine what is known by Carbon Footprint.

The term "Carbon Footprint" is usually used as shorthand for the amount of emitted carbon (in tons) by an organization or country. This footprint is also an important component of the Ecological Footprint, since it is one competing demand for biologically productive space. Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuel usually accumulate in the atmosphere if there is not enough biocapacity dedicated to absorb these emissions. Therefore, when the carbon footprint is reported within the context of the total Ecological Footprint, the tons of carbon dioxide emissions are expressed as the amount of productive land area required to sequester those CO₂ emissions, which tells us how much biocapacity is necessary to neutralize these emissions.

Measuring Carbon Footprint in a certain area just shows us how much biocapacity is needed to take care of our untreated carbon waste and to prevent carbon accumulation in the atmosphere, which as a consequent can enable us to address the climate change challenge in a clearer way. In fact, the climate problem emerges because the planet does not have enough biocapacity to neutralize all these emissions. Humanity’s carbon Footprint has increased 11-fold since 1961. Reducing humanity’s carbon Footprint is the most essential step we can take to end overshoot and live within the means of our planet.

The climate pact approved in Paris in December 2015 represented an important step in re-imagining a fossil-free future for our planet. Nearly 200 countries around the world, including Egypt, agreed to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C. According to the known data from (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) IPCC’s 2014 report that a concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of 450 ppm CO₂ equivalent gives us a 66% chance to comply with the Paris Agreement’s (2°C) goal. In contrast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Department of Commerce (or NOAA) reports that in 2020 we were already at 504 ppm CO₂ equivalent. This confirms that the problem is increasing and there is a critical demand to rapidly solve it. Although Egypt contributes with a small portion in the global emissions of greenhouse gases, but this small portion is growing with time. In addition, Egypt is also expected to suffer from shortage of water, decrease in agricultural crops, rising sea levels due to increase in temperature and change in rainfall patterns.  

In the light of the above mentioned information and according to the "Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt's Vision 2030", Alexandria University, as a very important  educational institution, has took the first steps to work on reducing carbon emissions as one of the most important sources of greenhouse gases and has implemented a plan to monitor and calculate the “Carbon Footprint since the academic year 2018 / 2019” for all its faculties, institutes and its administrative buildings in order to aid in decision-making.

When calculating the Carbon Footprint for all Alexandria University buildings for the Academic year (2022/2023), the approximate amount of emitted CO₂ was 4,530.12843 CO₂e.

The total carbon footprint of the Faculties and Institutes of Alexandria University (Ton CO₂e)