Reducing the output of greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most critical responses to climate change, which is why it plays a central role in implementing the Carbon and Climate Commitments. The direct reductions of on-campus emissions is often a tangible and highly successful demonstration of sustainability policy; something to bring together many disparate members of the campus community around a common action.
A key lesson we have learned in the ten years since the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) was first created, is that setting a bold aspiration to carbon neutrality often drives deeper cuts in emissions beyond what would be achieved with the simple desires to use resources wisely and save costs. At the beginning of the process a campus might not know how it is going to achieve carbon neutrality, it may not even seen possible or realistic at the time, but as the momentum and learning behind the commitment grow over time, new policies, know-how, technologies, funding, and collaborations are ultimately brought to bear on the problem. Higher education is one of society’s driving forces of innovation and new ideas. It is in this spirit of discovery and learning that you can start to address the challenge of carbon neutrality.
For purposes of the Carbon and Climate Commitments, carbon neutrality is defined as having no net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to be achieved by minimizing GHG emissions as much as possible, and using carbon offsets or other measures to mitigate the remaining emissions. To achieve carbon neutrality under the terms of the Carbon and Climate Commitments, all Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as those Scope 3 emissions from air travel paid for by or through the institution and regular commuting to and from campus, must be neutralized.
This is an exciting time to undertake a path to a low-carbon future. Each year new technologies and applications appear or are perfected to the point of becoming economical for wide-scale implementation. The majority of the technologies required to achieve carbon neutrality on a national scale are already in the marketplace and many of these are cost-saving. The task for you is to find the combination of these practices, policies, and equipment that are applicable at the campus scale to produce the greatest reductions in the shortest time scale with the least cost.
