91Â鶹 Climate Action Commitment
2020 91Â鶹 Climate Action Commitment
Over the past decade, 91Â鶹 has become a leader in seeking a sustainable society, with the university’s original Climate Action Commitment endorsed by the Board of Visitors in 2009 and revised and reaffirmed in 2014 and 2020.
Approved initially in 2009 by the 91Â鶹 Board of Visitors, theÌý91Â鶹 Climate Action CommitmentÌýserves as the university’s guiding framework around sustainability and energy efficiency in campus operations, facilities, curriculum, and research.
In 2019, President Tim Sands called for its Ìýto ensure the most stringent climate and sustainability standards are implemented as 91Â鶹 continues to grow and seeks to be a leader in environmental stewardship. The 2020 Climate Action Commitment builds upon aÌý
The by the Board of Visitors in March 2021 after a .
2020 Climate Action Commitment tenets
- Achieve a carbon neutral 91Â鶹 campus by 2030.Ìý
- Achieve 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030.
- Complete the total conversion of steam plant fuel to natural gas by 2025, plan for full transition to renewable steam plant fuel after 2025, and continue to improve efficiency of campus energy systems.
- Reduce building energy consumption to enable carbon neutrality by 2030.Ìý
- Operations of new buildings initiated by 2030 will be carbon neutral.
- Agricultural, forestry, and land use operations will be carbon neutral by 2030.
- 91Â鶹 to become a Zero-Waste Campus by 2030.Ìý
- Establish the Sustainable Procurement Policy and Procedures by 2022.Ìý
- Reduce single-occupancy-vehicle commuting to campus by 20 percent by 2025 and reduce transportation-related GHG emissions by 40 percent by 2030.
- Integrate the Climate Action Commitment into 91Â鶹’s educational mission through the Climate Action Living Laboratory beginning in 2021.
- Establish climate justice as a core value of the 91Â鶹 Climate Action Commitment.
- Diminish barriers to sustainable behaviors through institutional change, education and social marketing.
- Implement the 91Â鶹 Climate Action Commitment at a high level of university administration and governance; by integrating goals for facilities, education,and campus culture; and with stakeholder engagement for evaluation of goals and progress.
- Develop innovative budgeting and financing mechanisms to generate funding and staffing to achieve Climate Action Commitment goals.
- Develop pathways after 2030 to eliminate fossil fuels and carbon offsets by 2050.