- The University of Sheffield is set to deliver world class climate research, train the next generation of sustainability leaders and steer climate policy, thanks to a £3.5 million donation from the Grantham Foundation
- Gift will support Sheffield’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures - an interdisciplinary research centre that is already making an impact in reducing the need for single use plastics, helping refugees grow food and calling out greenwashing
- Investment backs Sheffield research to shift away from fossil fuels and reduce global resource consumption
The University of Sheffield has been given a £3.5 million gift by the Grantham Foundation to deliver world class climate research, train the next generation of sustainability leaders and steer global climate policy.
The gift will support the University’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures - an interdisciplinary research centre that is already working to reduce the need for single use plastics, help refugees grow their own food and seed-fund the next generation of sustainability research through its grant programmes.
Since its inception in 2014, Sheffield’s Grantham Centre has trained more than 260 PhD students and enabled close to 400 researchers to build connections and collaborate with over 170 different partners. These include community groups, government agencies, international NGOs, and multinational companies in a bid to build a more sustainable future.
Its wide-range of research projects are tackling the planet’s most pressing sustainability challenges, such as decarbonising the energy sector, combating deforestation and decoupling human wellbeing from economic growth.
The centre’s Sustainability Assessment Team is bringing together experts in environmental, economic and social impact assessment to better understand the effects of products, projects and processes at the heart of people’s lives across the planet. To date, the team has supported projects including the development of flood adaption systems to protect people and property, designed eco cook bags to reduce fuel and emissions in cooking and is helping to create the world’s most sustainable cold room to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and food waste in rural communities.
Its Green Watch Team is taking a critical look at stories, products and policies in the news to identify and call out cases of greenwash, as well as highlighting genuine sustainability successes, such as whether capturing emissions at sea is the answer to low-carbon shipping, popular misconceptions about the role of electrification in decarbonisation and whether vertical farming is the future of agriculture.
Thanks to this new £3.5m investment, the centre will continue to deliver and influence sustainability efforts for the next 10 years, widening its impact at a local, national and global scale.
Professor Tony Ryan, Co-Director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Sheffield, said: “We are delighted that the Grantham Foundation has chosen to support our work. Our mission is to combine leading edge research with training the sustainability leaders of the future. As well as continuing to deliver the University’s commitment to sustainability research, we will be particularly focused on the de-fossilisation of everyone’s lives and driving down global resource consumption. We will continue to call out greenwashing and greenwishing wherever we see it, without fear or favour.”
Established in 2014, the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures is a partnership between the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and the University of Sheffield. Founded in 1997 by Sheffield alumnus Jeremy Grantham and his wife Hannelore, the Grantham Foundation is dedicated to protecting and conserving our natural environment.
The Foundation champions new science, innovative thinking, and public advocacy as core pillars of its work. Guided by these values, Sheffield’s Grantham Centre conducts interdisciplinary research that influences, persuades and evidences the real-world solutions to, and benefits of, collaborative climate action. By bringing together world-class experts from academia, business, policy, and the voluntary sector, the centre aims to secure a sustainable future for all by ensuring there is enough for everyone whilst simultaneously reducing global consumption.
Jeremy Grantham said: “We are proud to be able to support the University of Sheffield in facing and finding real solutions to climate change. Humanity is currently on an unsustainable path and it will require all of our best efforts to save ourselves. The work done at Sheffield has already been invaluable in this fight.”
Professor Koen Lamberts, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: “At the University of Sheffield, we are deeply committed to addressing the global climate challenge. Working with Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham is a great privilege and their latest gift is testament to the strength of our partnership. Thanks to this shared vision, the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures will continue to develop the next generation of sustainability leaders, turning pioneering research into real-world impact.”
From summer 2026, the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures will enter an exciting new chapter. Strengthened by this investment, the centre will continue to advance sustainability across its core areas of research, training, and policy and engagement, while transitioning to a more sustainable long-term funding model.
The centre will announce ambitious plans for the coming decade later this year. Keep up to date by visiting its website, signing up to its newsletter or following it on LinkedIn or Bluesky.
Reflecting Sheffield’s commitment to independent thinking and a shared ambition, the Grantham Centre demonstrates how creative minds at the University are shaping solutions to global challenges.
