The Sustainability Office was created with the aim of ensuring sustainable practices across the board. Our goal was to redefine our role in the grand scheme of things, meet regulatory requirements and inspire more sustainability-related action within the IE University community.

ENVIRONMENTAL:  

• IE University went paperless in 2019. Printing is only allowed under specific circumstances.
• Energy consumption (September 2019 – August 2020): 7,306,741 kw/h 
• *CO2 emissions reduced thanks to restricted printing: 2,753 kg

SOCIAL:

• Scholarships for women: 842 
• Staff and student social impact volunteering hours: 30,000 
• Hours of sustainability-related tuition: 10,758 

GOVERNANCE: 

• First audited non-financial report published. 
• New procedures established related to responsible consumption and environmental responsibility. 

We launched our 10-Year Challenge under the 2030 UN Agenda. The first goal we tackled was Responsible Consumption and we were able to achieve 100% renewable energy.  

ENVIRONMENTAL

• *CO2 emissions reduced thanks to restricted printing: 185 kg 

SOCIAL: 

• Staff and student social impact volunteering hours: 45,959 
• Hours of sustainability-related tuition: 12,008

GOVERNANCE: 

• Code of Conduct updated. 
• Centralized database for sustainability KPIs launched.  

2021 was focused on Building Community, and we continued our strategy of alternating between environmental and social challenges.

Environmental: 

• *CO2 emissions reduced thanks to restricted printing: 4,816 kg 

SOCIAL

• Staff and student social impact volunteering hours: 57,693 
• Hours of sustainability-related tuition: 12,987

GOVERNANCE: 

• Code for the Prevention of Harassment in the Workplace created. 
• ISO 14001 standard achieved. 
• First audited, certified and registered calculation of carbon footprint. 

After rebuilding our community’s social fabric following the pandemic, it was time to focus on environmental challenges again. In 2022, we chose Carbon Footprint as our challenge and throughout the year we completed our first certified carbon footprint audit and achieved net zero.

ENVIRONMENTAL

• 92% reduction in paper usage since academic year 2019-2020
• 74% use of renewable energy since academic year 2019-2020

SOCIAL

• Scholarships awarded by IE University: €20,088,642
• Increase of 25.5% pro bono hours dedicated to social impact activities since academic year 2019-2020
• Hours of sustainability-related tuition: 12,712.5 

GOVERNANCE

• Creation of Code for the Prevention of Harassment in the Workplace.
• Achievement of ISO 14001.
• First audited, certified and registered calculation of our carbon footprint.         

2023 challenge was Accessibility, Inclusion and Belonging. Diversity and inclusion are fundamental principles for IE University. 

We strive to facilitate inclusion by creating a community that is accesible to everyone.

This year, our focus was on improving by increasing our resources and efforts to create this community that reinforces diversity and the different capabilities of every member of our community.

This year our Sustainability Challenge at the Sustainability Office is around WASTE. We are tackling our waste production and management in order to reduce it. Our efforts are destined to reinforce the protocols in-house such as recycling and triage centers on campus. But it is about create the means and the mindset to reduce our waste and better manage it, as an institution and individually.