Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
We are home of the Environmental Research Institute, a team of highly skilled researchers focused on mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Conscious decision-making about our carbon footprint in all campus operations and capital projects.
Our multi-disciplinary team of researchers exploring how we can be more effective at engaging with our diverse communities so people are more likely to take action on climate change.
We aspire reach 100% renewable energy use on campus. In 2023, of the 78GJ of energy we used, an increase in the proportion from renewable sources to 65%.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Total energy used (GJ) | 75.9 | 78.1 | 77.5 |
| Total energy from low-carbon sources (GJ) | 43.8 | 49.0 | 50.5 |
| Proportion | 58% | 63% | 65% |
Shortly after Cyclone Gabrielle devastated the East Coast region of the North Island of New Zealand in 2023, the Manatū Hauora/Ministry of Health commissioned a group of researchers including the University of Waikato's Holly Thorpe to investigate the impacts of adverse weather events on health systems and community health and wellbeing.
The community research teams interviewed 143 residents in the two affected regions. They included first responders, heath workers, council staff and members of the public.
A report published by the Ministry of Health in 2024 contained five key recommendations made by the group to help plans for future events.
Waikato researchers unlocking keys to climate change hidden in the drip water from inside New Zealand’s deepest caves, have developed a new device which is now being used by researchers around the world. The device, called Syp, is now being manufactured in Hamilton and marketed by Waikato Scientific Instruments. Syp can automatically collect up to 58 predefined water samples over 12 months, all powered by AA batteries. Without Syp, researchers would have to make multiple trips to remote caves that can take hours or even days to reach on foot, making it challenging, time consuming and costly.
The University of Waikato achieved a world-first in 2021, with the launch of a new Bachelor of Climate Change degree. The new, three-year cross-disciplinary undergraduate degree welcomed its first students in A Trimester 2022. This degree combines scientific knowledge of the biophysical world with understanding of economic and political systems and the impacts on Māori, Pacific and Indigenous communities. Dean of Science, Professor Margaret Barbour, says students with the new qualification will be in demand as we work towards the target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Bachelor of Climate Change brings together this collective expertise across all the disciplines creating a common language in the fight against the globe’s most pressing environmental issue.
Researchers contribute to groundbreaking climate change report in the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean Climate Crisis Assessment (POCCA) project brought together over 100 researchers and community experts from across 16 Pacific countries and territories to document the region’s resilience and adaptation strategies in the face of escalating climate challenges.
Unambitious and undermined: why NZ’s latest climate pledge lacks the crucial ‘good faith’ factor
There is room for greater ambition in New Zealand's climate pledge, argues Associate Professor of Law Dr Nathan Cooper in this piece for The Conversation.
NZ is encouraging the use of AI – but it’s largely outsourcing the risks and societal costs
As investment in generative AI continues to grow globally, New Zealand’s government has been implementing its use across the public sector and encouraging businesses to embrace the technology’s potential.
Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle: 5 key health priorities for future disaster response
Health and wellbeing are greatly affected by extreme weather events. New research into how people and systems responded after Cyclone Gabrielle shows how we can react better to future emergencies.
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