The National University of Rosario (UNR) is in the city of Rosario, Argentina. Its current building structure is formed of 12 faculties, 3 high schools and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies. The built infrastructure is more than 180,000 square meters and in 2009 the university population was around 107,000 people including students, professors, and technical and administrative staff. The campus policies include sustainability as one of its main objectives. To assess and eventually reduce the campus environmental impact, its greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory was analysed, and its carbon footprint was calculated, using ISO 14064 standard and series. In 2019, the campus produced around 3610 tonnes of CO2 equivalent; corresponding to Category 2 (Indirect GHG emissions caused by imported energy) generating electricity, 2937 tonCO2eq and natural gas, 673 tonCO2eq. As this is a preliminary report corresponding to 2019 (several years prior to the present) and because the information necessary to calculate GHG emissions has not been systematised, the results are more indeterminate than expected, estimated at between 10% and 20%. Neither were minor contributions estimated (with respect to the sources with the highest contribution: Stationary Energy and Mobility), due to sources such as Waste, Fugitive Emissions, etc. Furthermore, it was not possible to obtain information for this First Report on the number of trees that are planted on the entire land area of the UNR (mainly in the Faculties of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Science), to estimate the removals of the main greenhouse gas, Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Given that in the Mobility Sector it was not possible to obtain direct information on GHG emitting sources (as only indirect data is available through the purchase of fuel in 2019 by the UNR), no data is presented for this sector. Consequently, the results presented in this Preliminary Report should be considered as minimum values for UNR emissions. However, considering the extensive experience from other reports and preliminary estimates, it is considered that the results of the UNR GHG emissions incorporate most of the emissions. The inventory will assist in the establishing policies for GHG reduction and mitigation, resulting in potential environmental and economic benefits. Having completed the preliminary UNR Carbon Footprint (CF) Report, it is now time to move forward on a Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Emission Reduction Target and a Climate Action Plan to take this target forward. Consequently, and as part of the strategy to promote the development of sustainable campuses, the UNR decided to set a reduction horizon by the end of the year 2023 of 10% of the value calculated in the First Report for the year 2019.

Carbon footprint, ISO 14064, greenhouse gas, university