Sustainability

The Sustainable Foundations pillar of our Sustainable Discoveries action plan focuses on the key issues we need to address to achieve our sustainability goal. This includes accountability for the delivery of the plan, engaging and training colleagues on sustainability issues and ensuring we are monitoring and reporting on progress.

A Net Zero ICR by 2040

The ICR is committed to reducing its carbon footprint to net zero by 2040. This means we will reduce our emissions by at least 90% by this point.

To do so, we will set and implement a decarbonisation plan that will be reviewed and updated on a yearly basis.

When we talk about carbon footprints, emissions fall into 3 main areas:

• Scope 1 – emissions from combustion of gas in heating boilers, emissions from burning fuel for back-up generators, leakage of cooling system refrigerant gases and emissions from our own vehicles
• Scope 2 – emissions associated with the consumption of purchased electricity from the national grid
• Scope 3 – our wider value chain including emissions from procurement, waste management, commuting, business travel (this is by far the main source of emissions)

Governance, accountability and reporting

Supporting governance and the participation of all people at the ICR will support the success of this sustainability action plan.

Achieving this sustainability plan is also a big challenge and we need to be transparent on our progress. We are developing a sustainability dashboard to monitor our progress against the different objectives, such as our carbon footprint and our decarbonisation plans, and will be communicating our progress externally on a regular basis.

• Carbon footprint calculated quarterly and reported
• Development of plans for decarbonisation
• Report progress externally

Training and capacity

It is important that all ICR members have an awareness of sustainability issues and how they affect their role, and understand how they can help in the delivery of this plan.

Sustainability training is made available to everyone at the ICR and all new staff and students will have a sustainability briefing as part of their induction.

Our Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) accredited training session - Sustainability at the ICR - are made available at least twice in each academic year.

Looking after our people

Creating an inclusive and supportive culture where everyone can thrive is essential to the ICR and our values.

We are expanding our work on gender, social and racial equality, diversity and inclusion within the institute. We are aiming to achieve the Athena SWAN award at silver or gold level by 2024 and increase the proportion of students and postdocs from non-white backgrounds by 30%. We are also committed to ensuring that all our contractors are London Living Wage Employers.

Read our Health, Safety Environment Policy Statement

Our communities

From visiting schools to discuss careers in science and cancer research, hosting workshops or interactive demonstrations for members of the public to engaging with patients about our research – it is our responsibility to share our discoveries and the benefits of research with the public.

Engaging with our communities is important for us. We will continue to engage with local schools and more widely with students and young people to encourage scientific research careers – especially from backgrounds currently under-represented in research science.

We will connect with a range of audiences within our local and neighbouring boroughs, ensuring that our audiences for engagement reflect the diversity of our local communities.

Research science is at the heart of our mission to Defeat Cancer; however, this comes at a significant cost to the environment. Laboratories are known to use significantly more energy, water and plastics than a typical office space. The large laboratory footprint and resource intensive nature of our work means that the ICR has one of the highest carbon footprints in the higher education sector. Focusing on sustainable science as a discrete area in our action plan is important for raising awareness and reducing the environmental and social impact of our science.

A large part of sustainable science and vital to progress, is lab certification. Our labs in Sutton and Chelsea started working towards lab certification, My Green Lab certification and Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) respectively at the end of 2022. Today 92% of our wet labs have gained certification. In addition to this, three groups at the ICR have gained Green DiSC certification. Green DiSC provides a roadmap for research groups and institutions who want to tackle the environmental impacts of their computing activities.

At the ICR we take best practice from the medical and research sector, to reduce the environmental impact of our work. Whether this is taking part in the International freezer challenge, where we received an honourable mention for our kWh savings this year, taking a life cycle thinking approach when purchasing labware, reagents and equipment, or thinking about sustainability in the design and execution of our experiments.

In March 2025 the ICR were awarded a Sustainable Laboratories grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry for a project, ‘Glove recycling – Hearts, minds and carbon reduction’. This sought to investigate the feasibility of Glove recycling as an initiative at the ICR. Data on the cost vs carbon reduction benefit, life cycle assessment of end-of-life management options and the role of glove recycling as part of pro-environmental spillover within laboratories will be shared with the wider life sciences sector.

Our work towards becoming more sustainable starts with our buildings, estates and facilities.

Every day our facilities rely on resources such as energy and water to carry out our research and we also generate quite a lot of waste, so our carbon footprint carries a significant environmental impact. Besides reducing the impacts from consumption, it is important for us to make sure our facilities are climate resilient to future heat-waves, water shortages and other future risks.

Carbon emissions from buildings

The ICR has a significant energy and carbon footprint from its buildings - approximately 80% of our floor space is laboratories, which typically consume five times more energy for their equivalent floor area than office buildings. This is due to the specialised ventilation, lighting and cooling systems needed for labs, as well as the laboratory equipment such as fume cupboards and ultra-low temperature freezers.

In line with our net zero objective and science-based target, we are committed to reduce our carbon emissions from buildings by 42% by 2030 and 90% by 2040 (over a 2019/2020 base year).

To do so, we will carry out surveys to investigate the potential of renewable energy generation and develop an estates decarbonisation plan for the retrofit of existing buildings. The ICR is already purchasing 100% certified renewable electricity through the grid through joint purchasing consortium with other London universities.

We are developing a Sustainable Construction Project Plan to ensure our buildings are energy-efficient, low carbon and climate resilient.

Waste

Sustainability for the ICR means an overarching focus on waste reduction (such as through behaviour change and procurement initiatives) and moving towards circular economy practices.

Our waste streams include:

• Dry mixed recycling and cardboard
• Chemical wastes
• Construction project wastes
• Cytotoxic and hazardous clinical waste

During the academic year 2020/2021, the ICR generated 318 tons of waste, we recycled 41% of waste, 36% went for energy recovery and 23% was incinerated.

We are working hard to reduce, reuse and recycle. We are committed to reducing the amount of waste we produce by 4.2% per year until 2024/25 and to recycling at least 50% of site waste by the end of 2025.

Water

The UK is subject to water stress due to the availability of water resources and the population density. Laboratory processes use significant quantities of water and we also use water for grounds maintenance.

In 2020/2021, the ICR consumed 28,907 cubic meters of water, enough water to fill an Olympic swimming pool 11 and a half times.

The ICR is committed to reduce its water use by 10% per ICR member by 2029/30. We are developing a water reduction plan, water-use audits and putting in place programmes to reduce water 

Commuting and visiting the ICR

Travel to the ICR is a significant sustainability issue giving rise to greenhouse gas emissions and potentially contributing to local congestion and air quality.

We have developed and implemented a Green Travel Plan which is reviewed on a regular basis. We also carry out a staff travel survey every two years. Our transport aims include:

• Increase cycling to and from the ICR
• Increase walking to and from the ICR
• Increase travelling to and from the ICR by public transport (in particular, by train and shuttle bus)
• Increase car sharing to and from the ICR
• Improving our electric vehicle charging facilities at our Sutton site.

As part of working towards our net zero target, we aim to reduce the carbon intensity of commuting by 4.2% per year. We're also looking at reducing carbon emissions from business travel, such as when our researchers travel to conferences, which can have a significant carbon footprint.

Enhancing biodiversity and nature

At the ICR we have external areas at Sutton which can be used to enhance and complement local biodiversity as well as improving the attractiveness of the campus and contributing to wellbeing.

Working with our partners, including Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals, the Royal Marsden and the London Borough of Sutton, we will continue to place nature and biodiversity at the heart of our decision making and develop at least two new areas of nature-enhancing habitats at our site in Sutton.

The ICR’s supply chain is varied, consisting of facilities services, laboratory equipment, laboratory consumables, construction materials and many other types of products. The environmental and social risks and opportunities from such a diverse supply chain are complex and wide-ranging.

It is important for the ICR to tackle these and take a focused approach in doing so – particularly because approximately 90% of our climate impacts are from procurement. Decarbonising the goods and services we buy will not be easy, but it is now a priority, and we are ready for the challenge. 

The ICR is part of the London Universities Purchasing Consortium (LUPC), who have mapped out social related risks from issues such as child labour, modern slavery, illegal work practices and others. We also comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, including publishing our assessment of slavery risks in our operations and supply chain.

The ICR is also a member of Electronics Watch – the independent monitoring organisation that aims to improve workers’ conditions in global electronics supply chains. This affiliation and our ongoing collaboration with the LUPC, fellow members and the wider sector will enhance our focus on responsible procurement and support work to mitigate human rights abuses in supply chains.

Supplier engagement

We are mapping our suppliers and contractors against sustainability risks – for example, identifying carbon hotspots from our purchased goods and services. We communicate the ICR’s sustainable procurement policy and guidelines to key suppliers and we are introducing sustainable procurement criteria in all competitive tenders.

We are also implementing a project to request our suppliers to provide us with supplier-specific carbon data, which will help identify where improvements can be made.

As a result, we expect that 100% of our suppliers will be aligned with our Net Zero target by 2030. We hope to make a real difference in our supply chain and support our suppliers to take the same path.

Engaging with ICR staff and students on sustainable choices

A key part of our strategy is to give all our staff necessary training and guidance so that they can make more sustainable choices to decrease their environmental and social impacts. ICR researchers, staff and students will be able to identify what is not necessary to buy and to understand the sustainable alternatives to purchase.

Facility-wise, we have been buying renewable electricity via the higher education purchasing group TEC. We will continue to make sure we purchase only 100% of our energy from reliable renewable sources.

Greener business travel

Reducing carbon emissions from business travel is an important part of our net zero target, and we provide guidance for our people to assess when it is possible to avoid business travel or take lower carbon transport modes of transport.

For example, this could include looking at sustainable transport choices such as long-distance rail instead of flying, or questioning the need for travel at all and using video conferencing, virtual meetings and other forms of technology instead.

As part of our annual reporting against targets set out in ‘Sustainable Discoveries’ our action plan, we will highlight progress that we have made in each area of the Concordat for the Environmental sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice.

The academic year 2024/25 has seen significant progress in building the foundations for sustainable procurement. Not just the updating of our policy and strategy to embed sustainability, but to provide practical guidance documents and training for scientists to make more sustainable choices in what they buy and use.

Whilst recognising the need for academic travel for career progression, networking and collaboration, the ICR has limited domestic flights and promoted modes of travel with reduced

impact. We have worked with our travel partner to promote the use of our travel platform to ensure that we accurately capture our emissions. We have shared emissions data with our scientific divisions to raise awareness and have provided information to allow all staff and students to make informed decisions regarding travel.

We have started to look at Human Resources (HR) processes, from the identification of resource requirements to on-boarding, training and career development. There is a significant opportunity in this area to embed sustainability as part of everyday activities and to ensure alignment with the ICR’s core values. Similarly, within our estates and facilities directorate we have identified areas where sustainability best practice approaches can be embedded.

Key funding signatories, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and Wellcome have really changed the landscape in their requirement of laboratory certification for grant funding. The ICR has worked hard this year to ensure all its labs have lab certification to fulfil grant funding requirements. In addition to this, several support functions such as the Core Research Services group and laboratory science services team have also gained certification.

26 June 2024

The Institute of Cancer Research

Letter of commitment to the priorities of the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice

I, Professor Kristian Helin, on behalf of the Institute of Cancer Research confirm our commitment to the priority areas outlined in the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice.

The Institute of Cancer Research fully supports the priority areas outlined in the concordat. We will deliver against all the priorities in practice and recognise our responsibilities as a signatory, as set out in the concordat.

By signing this concordat, we recognise the need to change how we conduct research and innovation as well as promote wider solutions. We also agree to take shared action now and into the future to reduce and eliminate our own environmental impacts and emissions and achieve the transition to sustainable practices.

Sustainability at the Institute of Cancer Research means ‘acting now, in line with the UN Sustainability Development Goals, to manage economic, social and environmental issues within our organisation and globally, so that both now and in the future, we can continue to make the discoveries to defeat cancer’. We believe that we need to embed sustainability in everything we do, to deliver world leading cancer research with minimum environmental impact. We embrace the priority areas set out in this document, many of which are mirrored in our current sustainability action plan and acknowledge the importance of this concordat for driving sustainability for all organisations in the research and innovation sector.

Yours sincerely

Professor Kristian Helin

Chief Executive and President