By Ema Sabljak

Following the footsteps of the SNP and the UK Parliament, the University of Glasgow has also declared a climate emergency.

It is the first Scottish university to acknowledge the emergency and to commit to the Committee on Climate Change’s recommended target of zero emissions by 2050.

David Duncan, Chief Operating Officer and co-chair of the University’s Sustainability Working Group, said: “In taking this stand we are affirming our belief that urgent action is needed to tackle climate change.”

The move was motivated by a recent statement by the Environmental Association of Universities & Colleges (EAUC) calling for all post-16 education institutions in the UK to adopt the same response.

“We have urged the University to take a clear and unambiguous stand,” said Lauren McDougall, president of the University of Glasgow Students’ Representative Council.

She added: “Students at the University of Glasgow feel passionately about the issue of climate change and want their institution to play a lead role in tackling it.”

Recent youth strikes have demonstrated the support from the younger generation for climate action.

Glasgow students and pupils have organized three youth strikes since the beginning of the year with plans to take part in another global strike at the end of May.

Much of the youth action in Scotland has taken place with support from Extinction Rebellion Scotland, such as the recent “die-in” around Dippy the dinosaur in Kelvingrove Art Gallery.

Read more: Around 300 Extinction Rebellion activists 'collapse' in Kelvingrove Art Gallery

Director of the Glasgow Centre for International Development and co-chair of the Sustainability Working Group Dan Haydon said: “Higher Education Institutions have a critically important leadership role in addressing this crisis.

“As a progressive Scottish institution, it is our responsibility to lead the way in local sustainable practice.”

The university was also the first higher education institution to divest from fossil fuel industry companies in 2014.

Read more of today's top Glasgow stories 

Full divestment has meant the reallocation of £18 million of current investments over a ten-year period and should be reached by 2024.