Imperial Zero Index to be released by end of academic year

A Freedom of Information request by Felix has revealed that Imperial has said the Imperial Zero Index is “not a policy and has no impact on the state of the elements of the environment.”

In February 2024 Imperial College London launched the Zero Index, a new framework to assess their engagement with energy companies. The Zero Index annually assesses the environmental sustainability of Imperial’s energy industry partners and the College “expects to disengage from academic and research collaborations with companies that score poorly against its criteria. The Index will also be used to inform [their] investment decisions.” Imperial plans to release the first findings from the Zero Index by the end of the academic year.

This statement that the Index will have no impact on the environment is seemingly in contradiction with the goals of the Index.

The Zero Index aims to annually assess energy industry partners and could impact research collaborations as well as investments if well implemented. It does not directly look at the actions of the College’s partners, but rather the College’s engagement with them. However, the College has also delayed sharing the assessments or criteria of the Index from last academic year to this summer.