Sustainability

Sustainability is one of our strategic focus areas, and we’re committed to incorporating it into our operations – across all our campuses – as we pursue our missions of education, research and innovation.

Campus © EPFL Niels Ackermann / Lundi13 (2021)

The climate and sustainability challenges we face are urgent, global and complex, and EPFL can help meet them by acting at the crossroads of education, research and innovation. We’re committed to providing a sustainability-oriented education to our entire community, to finding sustainable solutions through research, and to transforming these solutions into useful tools for society through innovation. We also intend to make our campuses more resilient to climate change by taking concrete steps in all areas of our operations.

To move us towards our goals, we developed a Climate & Sustainability Strategy that provides a 360° view of the measures we’re implementing to make EPFL a more climate-responsible, sustainable School.

Our efforts have also included setting up a Sustainability Team within the Vice Presidency for Support to Strategic Initiatives (VPS), and working with partner networks both inside and outside EPFL to help us achieve our sustainability goals.

Climate & Sustainability Strategy

EPFL carbon footprint

What actions are possible on an individual level?

Focus areas

Our three missions

Education

Research

Innovation

Campus operations

Energy and Buildings

Sustainable IT Systems

Procurement and Waste Management

Sustainable finances and third-party funding

Academic Travel

Commuting

Food Services

Resilient Campus

Outreach and Awareness Building

Sustainability-related news

© Augustin Fragnière 2026 EPFL/Alain Herzog - CC-BY-SA 4.0

"Justice should be the moral driver behind climate action"

16.03.26EPFL

A new book by five experts sets out to explain climate change “in a fact-based way that’s easy for everyone to understand.” We spoke with Augustin Fragnière, a coauthor of the book and lecturer at EPFL and the University of Lausanne (UNIL).

Since the advent of the smartphone, travel services have expanded faster than a high-speed train. © iStock

Is transport just another service?

16.03.26EPFL

Digital transport technology is catching on, from apps that let you buy train tickets with a single swipe to sophisticated car-sharing systems. They may be easy to use, but such transport services often mask an array of complex technical, financial and public-policy decisions.

From food consumption to waste collection: less plastic at EPFL

05.03.26EPFL

This week, EPFL is hosting Sustainability Week, with a public open house on Saturday, March 7. How EPFL has halved its volume of incinerable waste over the past ten years? We spoke with two of the people who are helping to change our habits – and our campuses – one bin at a time.

All news

Sustainability-related events

Camp Océan

Le Camp Océan, organisé à l’EPFL le 25 avril 2026, propose une journée de réflexion et d’exploration autour des grands enjeux océaniques contemporains : observations scientifiques de l’océan, défis climatiques…

25.04.2026 09:0019:00

Speaker: Wilfried Sanchez, Gilles Boeuf, David Uwyler, Jérôme Chappellaz, Lucas Paoli, Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Lili Lesimple, Michel Roggo, Hugo Bret
Location: RLC E1 240, DLLEL
Category: Public Science Events
Target audience: General public

Camp Océan – Sailowtech

25.04.2026 13:3015:30

Speaker: Sailowtech (EPFL association) – Jérome Chappellaz (EPFL, Laboratoire SENSE) – Lucas Paoli (EPFL, Laboratoire Microbiome Immunity and Ecology) – Anders Meibom (EPFL, Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry) – Lili Lesimple (Geneva Ocean Academy)
Location: DLLEL 0 28
Category: Conferences – Seminars
Target audience: General public

Learn more & apply

Defining EPFL Values – Workshops and Online Platform

15.04.202630.05.2026

Location: CO 216 et campus associés
Category: Miscellaneous
Target audience: General public