The University of Wollongong is committed to working towards the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through its governance, teaching and learning, community engagement, partnerships and research. The following initiatives are by UOW staff and students working towards SDG 13: Climate Action.
Goal 13: Climate Action
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Teaching, learning and outreach
999
Students studying subjects about this goal
480
Media stories about this goal
194K
These stories reached an audience of 194K on social media in 2020
Research
72.1%
Publications with international collaboration
41.3%
of the international collaboration publications are with developing countries
7.1
Citations per publication (global average 4.5)
73.5%
Publications in top 10% journals (13.7% in the top 1%)
27
Policy documents related to SDG 13
Our Commitment to climate
UOW is committed to the principles of environmental sustainability and has developed an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to deliver improvements in the use of energy, water, waste management and campus biodiversity.
Research being undertaken at UOW is exploring the causes and impacts of climate change and practical solutions such as sustainable fisheries management, bushfire management and innovations in battery technologies, sustainable buildings and new materials. The University is currently spending approximately $8M installing solar photovoltaic panels and LED lighting to slash energy consumption at its Wollongong and Innovation Campuses. In addition, the University is investing heavily to provide public transport services, including $350,000 per annum to support Wollongong’s free shuttle bus in addition to its own bus routes.
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Youth Climate Statement
A team of students and staff working in collaboration with the University of Wollongong (UOW) are participating in the 16th Conference of Youth on Climate Change (COY16), which is the precursor to the UN 26th Conference of Parties (COP26). As part of the conference, our team has developed a Youth Climate Statement in consultation with students, academics, and members of Wollongong’s wider community. The statement establishes a set of climate change commitments of the University, as well as demands on a local, national, and global level. These commitments and demands will be presented as a part of COY’s statement to the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties in Glasgow on the 31st of October-12th November 2021.
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Blue Carbon Futures
UOW researchers have been investigating how mangroves have responded to sea-level rise in the past, providing us with crucial information about how our shorelines will change in the future with climate change. The team received a Eureka Prize for Environmental Research in 2019.
Global Climate Change Week
Global Climate Change Week (GCCW) was established when academics and students at UOW got together to talk about climate change action and solutions. Now, each year, academics, professional staff and local communities around the world come together to save the planet in a global movement The week involves a range of activities including open lectures, discussion panels, environmental lifestyle workshops and other events at UOW’s Wollongong campuses and venues around the city of Wollongong. The events are aimed at capturing the attention of students, policy-makers, and the wider community, demonstrating the need to take action against climate change. In 2019, 20 events took place in Wollongong for GCCW.
ECO Antarctica
The ECO Antarctica project has established a new trans-Tasman network of Antarctic researchers with a wide range of expertise. These include marine and terrestrial ecologists, data scientists, environmental toxicologists, climate scientists and modellers, and experts in Antarctic and environmental law and policy. In 2019, the team showcased the wonder and science of Antarctica in a public exhibition called Antarctic Footprints. This allowed the public to explore some of the challenges that Antarctica’s coastal and near-shore marine systems face. This team has also drafted recommended protocols for uniformly monitoring and comparing terrestrial and marine zones for both climate and health of biodiversity around the coast of Antarctica. Collecting local climate and biodiversity data in a uniform way will contribute to science projects and national programs, resulting in informed conservation and environmental management throughout the Antarctic.
Petajakarta.org
Working with Jakarta’s government disaster management agency and Twitter, UOW researchers developed an open source platform, Petajakarta.org, to crowd-source and automate flood reporting. This technology reduced the time and cost of situational awareness, empowered citizens to report flood information through social media, and improved human adaptability to environmental disasters. The tool saved lives by enabling community and first responders to avoid and navigate safely through flood zones. Economic benefits were realised through cost savings from manual reporting and reductions in flood-related injury, property damage and disease. This model for emergency response is now seen as best practice by international agencies and has been further adopted by seven cities in four countries.
There is a growing concern in Australia and internationally of the extensive social and economic costs of disasters, which are increasing due to the impact of climate change. In the ten years leading up to 2016, the total cost of ‘natural’ disasters in Australia averaged $18.2 billion per annum. When disasters strike, home and contents insurance provides a safety net but many households are under-insured or not insured at all. The average uninsured loss for each ‘natural’ disaster in Australia between 2004 and 2011 is estimated at almost $1 billion. Little is known about the factors that contribute to these rates of inadequate insurance cover. Researchers at UOW are attempting to bridge this knowledge gap by examining perceptions of risk and insurance amongst residents both with and without direct personal experience of bushfires. The research strives to assist the development of insurance policies and implementation strategies that meet the needs of residents.
Disaster and crisis in our region
In the summer of 2019-20, our region experienced catestrophic drought and bushfires, and now the world is experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. UOW's Global Challenges Program brought together teams of interdisciplinary researchers from UOW and the broader community to investigate disaster and crisis resilience in our region.

Investigating how social media use is affecting bushfire recovery on the NSW South Coast.

Understanding the ways communities can build greater bushfire resilience through short and long-term coping capacity.

Piloting a youth led workshop to develop processes that support the development of positive cultural identity and resilience in Aboriginal youth

Exploring the experiences of people with disabilities in the Illawarra/Shoalhaven during recent local bushfire and global pandemic emergencies.

Investigating the mobility and social impacts and adjustment of transport services to tackle unexpected crisis in the future.

Engaging with stakeholders in the Illawarra and South Coast region to understand the performance of Evacuation Centres during the bushfires.

Exploring self-care and general practice nursing support of older persons affected by disaster.

Articulating the collective stories of people affected by bushfires to identify practices that are most effective for enhancing healing and recovery for local people, their communities and Country.

Assessing the impact of the recent bushfire and flood on natural water-bodies and the resulting impact on biodiversity.

Creating a meaningful and impactful weed management resource to transform individual and community responses to weeds post-bushfire.
Subjects and courses for SDG 13
- BIOL103 - Molecules, Cells and Organisms
- EESC101 - Planet Earth
- EESC331 - Changing Global Environments
- MAJ41925 - Environmental Humanities
- MIN1296 - Science and Technology Studies
- SCIE103 - Climate Change
- SOC356 - Cultures of Dispossession
- SNUG307 - Capstone
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
All 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Faculty
Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health
Degrees
General Schedule of electives, Bachelor of Conservation Biology (Honours), Bachelor of Conservation Biology (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Exercise Science, Bachelor of Exercise Science and Rehabilitation, Bachelor of Marine Science, Bachelor of Marine Science (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Medical and Health Sciences, Bachelor of Medical and Health Sciences (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Medical Biotechnology (Honours), Bachelor of Medical Biotechnology (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), BAachelor of Medicinal Chemistry (Honours), Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours), Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Nutrition Sciene, Bachelor of Pre-Medicine, Science and Health, Bachelor of Science
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
Faculty
Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Degrees
Bachelor of Environmental Science (Honours), Bachelor of Environmental Science (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Marine Science, Bachelor of Marine Science (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Science
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
Faculty
Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health
Degrees
Bachelor of Environmental Science (Honours), Bachelor of Environmental Science (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Marine Science, Bachelor of Marine Science (Honours) (Dean's Scholar), Bachelor of Science
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
Faculty
Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Degrees
Bachelor of Arts
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
Faculty
Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
Faculty
Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health
Degrees
Bachelor of Conservation Biology (Honours), Bachelor of Conservation Biology (Honours) (Dean's Scholar)
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
Faculty
TBD
Degrees
TBD
Subject description
This subject is working towards:
All 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Faculty
Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health
Degrees
Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Nursing (Conversion)