Disciplinary silos and financial constraints are preventing universities from becoming “keystone actors” in driving climate change action, it has been warned.

With the planet facing a “clear and present danger”, a new paper from the ����Vlog Policy Institute (Hepi) has called for greater collaboration to reorganise everyday life to “create a different kind of economy” – a role that universities are ideally placed to do.

But it finds that climate mitigation is often a distributed, messy, complex, sociocultural phenomenon that requires systemic solutions across multiple domains.

“Despite their significant contributions and capabilities, higher education institutions have failed to deliver the pace and scale of change that our society urgently require,” the report says.

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It urges universities to collaborate to develop green skills, warning that these are unevenly developed and insufficiently embedded across education and training pathways.

This could be done through affordable and accessible training informed by cutting-edge research, but universities face challenges around accessibility, funding and “anti-climate action” in the US, according to the report.

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“When political winds shift or short-term interests are focused, universities can stand as guardians of scientifically informed information and sustained efforts to address the climate emergency.”

The paper makes the case for the importance of interdisciplinary hubs, research centres and innovation catalysts that can gather academics, policymakers, businesses and civil society together to develop solutions. Long-term research centres and institutes are effective at driving systemic change, it says, but they need sustained funding and institutional support.

“Collaborative platforms developed to advance climate change mitigation research could act as a critical national infrastructure for scaling green economy transitions,” it adds.

But the report warns that the real challenge is “delivering the scale of change required to mitigate climate change and to do this before the planetary system reaches a tipping point of no return”.

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Author Katy Mason, pro-vice chancellor and dean of Salford Business School at the University of Salford, said: “Universities cannot tackle the climate emergency alone.

“Our findings show that connecting and coordinating existing platforms is the most effective way to scale impact and to ensure that research translates into real-world action.”

The report recommends that universities reform incentives for interdisciplinary collaboration and place more value on societal impact, rather than traditional academic outputs.

It urges the sector to invest in professional knowledge exchange teams to translate research into actionable insights, and embed green skills into curricula to prepare the workforce for the green economy.

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“Universities have generally adopted stretching net-zero targets of their own while also holding the key to tackling climate change across society as a whole,” said Hepi director Nick Hillman. “Yet the deteriorating financial situation is making it hard for them to put their shoulder to the wheel.

“More support and more encouragement for more collaborative action could potentially reap huge benefits.”

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com