Policy
Over the years many students have taken the initiative to create and pose policy to Union Council. It is then our job, along with the officers, to make sure those changes happen. Below are some of the policies which we currently have in place, many of which date years back, but are consistently kept on as active policy due to their importance.
Here are just a sample of the types of policies we have adopted over the years, showing our dedication to creating and preserving a more sustainable environment at UEA.
1989 Welfare of Animals on Campus
1988 LED Lighting in Union Premises
1802 No to Paper Library Receipts – The library has since offered an option to print a receipt or not
1755 Food Waste – distributing or offering unsellable food to local foodbanks in Norwich, foodbank|su
1753 Supporting student action on climate change – uea|su organised transport in order for students to attend the ‘People’s march for climate justice’
1688 Dodgy Sugar in my dodgy Coffee (Starbucks and Tate&Lyle Boycott) – this motion mandated the Union to remove all products by either brand from the shop due to their tax avoidance activities, stating it is an unsustainable investment for the Union.
1674 Fair Trade University – Following the implementation of this policy, wherever possible, the SU stock Fair Trade alternatives, and have lobbied UEA to do the same in their outlets.
1653 Ethical Investment Policy for UUEAS
Emergency Recycling Resolution – This led to the implementation of recycling options across all Union outlets
1636 Vegan Food – Union outlets started providing a wider range of vegan products. Creating more of a buzz around sustainable ways of living as veganism seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation and cruelty to animals for consumer purpose.
1576 Ethical Steering Group – This group had been developed and maintain to ensure the smooth implementation of resolutions to ethical issues raised in adopted policy.
1558 Sweatshop Free UEA – uea|su became an affiliated member of Electronics Watch following the adopting of this resolution
1441 Fossil Free UEA – Since the inception of this policy, many steps have been taken in an attempt to get UEA to divest from fossil fuels. Students have led campaigns, marches, and sit-ins, the Union have funded transport to demonstrations, however, UEA fell on the People & Planet league in 2015 due to its reluctance to divest.
1393 Ethical Careers fair – every year the Union hosts an ethical careers fair to promote the work companies with a good corporate social responsibility do.
1365 Ethical banking policy – Where possible, the Union switched its finances with explicitly ethical banks, such as the cooperative
1305 UUEAS Sustainable Seafood Policy – Endangered fish were removed from sale in the shop, the policy also mandated the Union and officers, to lobby companies to stop stocking fish caught and sold unsustainably.
1285 Sustainable Transport – Air travel had been banned within certain western European nations for societies and other Union activities, except in exceptional circumstances. It also encouraged sustainable transport to replace it.