Climate Action Week 2026 impact figures
TU Dublin joined the hundreds of schools, higher education institutions, local authorities, public sector bodies and businesses across Ireland to celebrate National Climate Action Week 2026. This year the annual event celebrates 10 years of collective action for climate and our environment.
From Monday 12 to Friday 16 October, TU Dublin delivered a dynamic programme of activity for Climate Action Week, engaging almost 1,000 people across 27 events, workshops and community initiatives. The volume and diversity of activities co-created by students, staff, and societal partners throughout the week highlights the scaling up of innovation and action to help lower the University's carbon emissions, protect local biodiversity, and enhance our campus and local environments.
Throughout the week, students, staff and the wider TU Dublin community supported the University's ambitious commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and improve energy efficiency by 50% by 2030.
The programme showcased climate action in practice across all aspects of university life. Students and staff participated in sustainability workshops, expert guest lectures and community engagement initiatives, while student-led projects demonstrated how local action can contribute to national climate goals. Activities explored themes including sustainable food growing and planting, circular economy practices, sustainability and climate education, sustainable and active travel, responsible consumption and community climate resilience.
Climate Action Week also highlighted the growing impact of student leadership on sustainability across TU Dublin. Eight student-led activities directly engaged 465 students, while TU Dublin's Food Pantry initiative continued to provide vital support to students, redistributing approximately 400kg of surplus food that benefited 350+ students. TU Dublin’s Environment and Planning Society engaged 50 people across a guest lecture, a film screening and a nature photography walk.
Across the week, volunteers supported local biodiversity, participating in litter-picking, removing 30kg of litter from the campus and the local environment, and five planting and nature-based action activities. Horticulture students installed a new no dig bed for cut flowers production, and Food Sustainability and Botanical Cuisine students installed a second water butt, created raised beds from a range of waste materials and planted a range of hardy winter lettuce varieties.
Sustainable and active travel was supported, with 119 participants taking part in the Smarter Travel Walktober step challenge and collectively walking more than 1,074 kilometres. Walktober teams recorded over 1.5 million steps during the week, generating an estimated 121kg reduction in carbon emissions.
The University community’s commitment to circular economy principles was evident through initiatives such as the SVP Clothes Repair Café, where 18 pre-loved clothing items were repaired and given a new lease of life and a Circular Economy Collage workshop engaged people on practice towards a more circular economy.
Sustainability Education remained a central focus, with dedicated learning opportunities supporting students, academic staff and professional services colleagues to develop the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to a more sustainable future. Educational activities included a Climate Fresk, the Embedding the SDGs Across the Curriculum CPD, guest speaker lectures on Sustainable Aviation, and climate and extreme weather research, a Global Issues Course supported by Student Volunteering engaged students to explore pressing global challenges through the lens of peace and reconciliation.
TU Dublin also showcased our pathway and progress towards achieving our climate action goal with a webinar on TU Dublin’s Climate Action Roadmap. The webinar also launched the Green Campus Open Call 2026 with funding opportunities to support decarbonisation and Green-Campus themes of Air Quality, Biodiversity, Energy, Green ICT, Greening Laboratories, Litter & Waste, Transport & Travel, and Water.
Climate Action Week 2026 demonstrated the power of collaboration, with students, staff, community partners and external partners working together to create positive environmental impact. As TU Dublin continues to advance its sustainability goals, the week provided a powerful reminder that meaningful climate action is achieved through collective effort, innovation and participation across the entire university community and beyond.