A notable London university proclaimed on Monday that it would be banning beef burgers and adding a levy on plastic bottles as part of a wider drive to tackle climate change. Goldsmiths, University of London, on Monday that the beef products and bottled water will be consigned to history.

As from the start of the new academic year next month as part of a major campaign to cut carbon use across Goldsmiths. Like the college, other universities and institutions in declaring a "climate emergency" and announcing a determined aim to become a carbon-neutral organisation by 2025.

"The growing global call for all organisations is to take seriously their responsibilities for halting climate change is impossible to ignore,” said Professor Frances Corner, the new Warden of Goldsmiths.

"Declaring a climate emergency cannot be empty words. I truly believe that we face a defining moment in global history and Goldsmiths and which now stands shoulder to shoulder with other organisations willing to call the alarm and take urgent action to cut carbon use," she said. 

Since taking charge, the first actin which was taken by the Warden was that he declared to remove all the beef products from sale from campus food outlets from September and an additional 10p tax will be imposed on bottled water and single-use plastic cups to discourage use, with the proceeds directed into a green student initiative fund.

According to latest official figures, show Goldsmiths emits around 3.7m Kg of carbon emissions each year – a figure which has reduced almost 10 per cent over three years – while it claims consistently generated around 107k kWh of renewable energy each year.