What Is the Climate Commitment?
On April 5, 2019, SSU President Judy Sakaki signed the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitment, the most rigorous commitment a university can make to address the causes and impacts of climate change. That day, we embarked on an intensive effort to develop goals and take actions that move us towards a sustainable and resilient future. We committed to:
- Carbon neutrality on campus
- Collaboratively working with our communities to build resilience in the face of climate change, and
- Graduate a workforce with the knowledge and skills to solve complex environmental and social challenges
The commitment is - perhaps most importantly - a commitment to SSU students. We are committing to teaching skills and creating experiences needed to build successful careers in a time of unparalleled change. The commitment is a promise to do our best to prepare students to make a difference by working with others across disciplines and across cultures.
Implementation Timeline
The commitment begins with a 3-year planning effort to develop a Climate Action Plan. The Plan is a roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality for electrical power, integrating sustainability and resilience into the student experience, and collaborating with the community to build a North Bay that is resilient to climate change. An annual evaluation will help the university make sure it stays on track to meet Climate Action Plan goals.
- First Year: Create joint campus-community structure & Baseline GHG Inventory
- Second Year: Hold Campus-Community Workshop to complete Resilience Assessment
- Third Year: Develop Climate Action Plan: set target dates for carbon neutrality & thresholds of resilience, interim targets, KPIs & plans to weave sustainability and resilience into research and curriculum
- Every Year: Complete annual evaluation of progress
- Every 5 Years: Review and update the Climate Action Plan
Updates
Contact
Megan Varnadore, Director of Resiliency and Sustainability Operations