Oxford students given access to employers’ green credentials

All recruiters looking to advertise positions to Oxford's students will now be asked a series of questions about their approach to environmental sustainability, based on the Oxford Martin Principles for Climate-Conscious Investment.

Employers’ responses will be made available to students, allowing them to make informed decisions about their future employment options.

The questions will be asked to any recruiter wishing to post a vacancy on the University’s CareerConnect system. Based on the answers, students will be able to easily access an organisation’s stance on climate change, their plans on how they will achieve Net-Zero by 2050 and remain profitable, and other relevant information.

Jonathan Black, Director of the Oxford University Careers Service, said: “The Careers Service’s mission is to enable students to make well informed decisions about their career. As part of this, we are actively exploring ways to help students learn about organisations’ approaches to sustainability. As a result, we hope that those students for whom sustainability is an important factor in their decision making, will be better informed.”

Kaya Axelsson, Vice-President, Charities and Communities at Oxford SU, said: “Oxford Students want to join organisations that are preparing for the future not relying on business models of the past. About two fifths of the world has committed to a net zero target by 2050 and the rest of the world has to get on board for my generation to have a reasonable chance of growing up in a future below two degrees average warming. I am thrilled to be working with our careers service to protect students' futures and provide them with professional development opportunities to lead in the 21st century.”

Professor Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science, and Head of the Climate Dynamics Group in the University of Oxford’s Department of Physics, said: “It’s great to see the Oxford Martin Principles for Carbon-conscious Investment being applied in this way: the biggest investment many of us make in our lives is who we choose to work for. It would be great to see Oxford graduates voting with their feet, and voting for the future.”

In future, students will be able to search for employers who have answered sustainability questions in specific ways.

The Careers Service is also considering publishing the data in future careers fairs’ booklets and similar publications.