Taking Time to Reflect

The last few months of 2011 were full of important sustainability news and events relevant to Second Nature’s work and the ACUPCC.

Dr. Mary Fifield, President, Bunker Hill Community College

The ACUPCC Regional Collaborative Symposium, hosted by Bunker Hill Community College in November, was a big hit with very positive feedback from the evaluations from the participants.  One of the highlights was a panel of presidents including Paul Ferguson (University of Maine System), Mary Fifield (Bunker Hill Community College), Gloria Larson (Bentley College) and Jonathan Lash (Hampshire College). A summary of the symposium by Sarah Brylinsky, Program Associate at Second Nature can be found here.

Furthermore, Second Nature released a white paper on the role of higher education in addressing adaptation, or ‘climate preparedness’ to unavoidable climate disruption which will occur because of our inability to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the last 20 years.  It was developed under the guidance of Professor Jim Buizer (University of Arizona, IPCC member and Second Nature Board Member) with some of the best adaptation experts in the country.

"Woman swim through contaminated water in the low-lying Asian country of Bangladesh." (Photo courtesy of Greenpeace UK)

Despite what the public is hearing about climate change and the dismal international results at the Conference of the Parties in Durban, South Africa in December the science is saying that the problem is growing at an unprecedented and scary rate and the tipping points are appearing much sooner and are much more worrisome than when the IPCC came out with its big report in 2007.  The impacts, already being felt around the world and in the US, will be greatest on the poorest people and people of color. The important report released by the International Energy Agency in November underscores the urgency of the challenge – 5 years to make significant changes to reduce emissions.

Although initiatives like the ACUPCC are growing in recognition and success, national and international progress has fallen short. This short video says it all.  Anjali Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa the conference on behalf of youth delegates.  Her words spark the powerful feelings of impatience felt by the youth of the world, and those in developing countries who are in desperate need of funding for adaptation against the already damaging impacts of climate change.

Leadership and Innovation from the First Five Years of the ACUPCC

2012 marks the 5 Year Anniversary of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), and with it a growing collection of successful leadership stories and innovative projects from over 670 signatory institutions. The first submission of Progress Reports for institutions that have completed a Climate Action Plan show remarkable progress in climate mitigation and education for sustainability.

In just five years, campuses across the nation have pioneered innovative approaches to finance climate mitigation, pursue climate and sustainability related research, reorient curriculum to address climate and sustainability issues, and most importantly engage their student’s and local community’s to address climate disruption.

The paths to climate neutrality and education for sustainability are as diverse as they are inspiring. Here are just a few of the tremendous successes in the first five years of the initiative:

New Features on the ACUPCC Website

Happy New Year! We’re thrilled to kick off 2012 with the newly redesigned Resources & Support section of the ACUPCC website. Watch the video below for a quick tour, then visit the website to browse the resources in a new, user-friendly way.

ACUPCC resources are always free for signatories of the commitment.

Send your feedback, suggestions, and comments to rmulla@secondnature.org.

Broken Promises – I’m Scared For My Future

Anjali Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, addressed the conference on behalf of youth delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done. So, distinguished delegates and governments around the world, governments of the developed world: Deep cuts now. Get it done,” Appadurai says.

EPA Green Power Leadership Awards Recognize ACUPCC Signatories

The EPA Green Power Partnership recognized the following ACUPCC signatory institutions with 2011 Green Power Leadership Awards:

Allegheny College
Franklin & Marshall College
Mercyhurst College
Santa Clara University
University of Central Oklahoma

Five of the ten Green Power Purchasing awards went to colleges and universities – all of which are part of the ACUPCC network.

Learn more about these institutions’ efforts to measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions, and integrate climate and sustainability into their education, research, and community engagement efforts by looking them up in the ACUPCC Reporting System.

Read more about Allegheny’s recognition here.

Read more about Mercyhurst’s recognition here.

Read more about Franklin & Marshall’s recognition here.

Read more about Santa Clara’s recognition here.

Read more about Central Oklahoma’s recognition here.

 

NRDC: Higher Education Paves a Way Forward on Climate Change

Reposted from Switchboard: The National Resource Defense Council Staff Blog.
By Kelly Henderson, Climate Center Program Assistant, NRDC

These days, it’s tough to be an environmentalist on the national level. The current “Right-heavy” House pays little to no attention to the health impacts related to air pollution and is too focused on tying EPA’s hands when it comes to regulating toxics and other air pollutants from prominent sources such as power plants. Those Representatives mindlessly claim that supporting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would kill jobs and cause further harm to an already weakened economy – parroting unproven rhetoric. If you do much of any related reading, you’d know they’re wrong. As a youth advocate for living sustainably and helping to curb the effects of climate change, it can be an especially frustrating and challenging situation as you may feel your voice is not being heard on the Hill. Many students and members of the millennial generation are facing this challenge every day.

Even though the federal government is in complete disagreement over how to progress with enacting legislation that would help ease the effects of climate change and allow for more sustainable initiatives throughout the country, there is still hope! Some state and local governments have grabbed the reins and decided to enact their own Climate Change Action Plans (CCAP). A CCAP “lays out a strategy, including specific policy recommendations that a local government will use to address climate change and reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” Many of these plans anticipate similar outcomes including but not limited to: increasing water and energy efficiency, improving air quality and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, setting standards for renewable vehicles percentages and an overall “greening” of the specific city, county or district.

What’s even more exciting is that many of these cities that have established their own CCAP are fueled by the energy of thousands of environmentally passionate students at large, sustainably-committed universities in those very same cities. The American College and University President’s Climate Commitment
(ACUPCC) is a method that is leading the way for several hundred colleges and universities across the country to become more sustainable by eliminating net greenhouse gas emissions and promoting educational strides in an effort to address global warming and climate change. To read more about what exactly the commitment is, what it does and to see a full list of college presidents who have signed it, read my previous blog here.

Let’s take a brief look at the CCAP in five cities across that country and the universities that are located in those cities who have signed the President’s Climate Commitment:

1.       Pima County, Arizona: home to ACUPCC Signatory Arizona State University and over 70,440 green-minded students.

Pima County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a sustainability initiative on May 1, 2007 which set specific goals to be achieved on set deadlines on everything from alternative-fuel vehicles to green building to land and water management and conservation to waste reduction. All of these sustainability goals are set on a five year action plan with incremental changes marked for each fiscal year.

In addition to Pima County’s initiatives, Arizona State University has taken the lead on advancing an unparalleled effort to install nearly 20MW of solar power across its four campuses by 2014.

2.       Los Angeles, California: home of UCLA, California State University and over 73,010 green-minded students.

 The city of Los Angeles released its climate action plan, Green LA: An Action Plan to Lead the Nation in Fighting Global Warming, in May 2007. The Plan sets forth a goal of reducing the City’s greenhouse gas emissions to 35% below 1990 levels by the year 2030, one of the most aggressive goals of any big city in the U.S.

In addition to Los Angeles’ Green LA program, students at UCLA have a Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) that raises $200,000 per year for UCLA sustainability projects. Additionally, starting in 2009, all new construction and major renovations at UCLA must be certified LEED Silver or higher.

Click here to continue reading this article….

Crafting a Water Sustainability Plan at the George Washington University

By Sophie Waskow, Sustainability Project Facilitator and Meghan Chapple-Brown, Director, The George Washington University Office of Sustainability
(This article appears in the December, 2011 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Like many ACUPCC signatories, GW has committed to carbon neutrality and has created a climate action plan outlining carbon reduction strategies. But climate is not the only risk universities must manage and mitigate. By 2030, demand for water globally is projected to exceed supply by 40 percent. Climate change has a number of implications on the water cycle, creating disruptions in water supply worldwide.

Higher-education institutions have the unique opportunity to not only integrate sustainability into their operational practices, but also into their academic and curricular programs. GW has committed to writing three strategies to reduce our resource system impacts: a climate action plan, a water action plan and an ecosystem enhancement plan. While these three issues are cross-cutting and interconnected, GW chose to set strategies focused on each resource impact area individually to set discrete targets, goals and indicators for reduction and enhancement.

Across the United States and globally, the most pressing water issues vary. In Washington, D.C. the stormwater runoff and quality are the primary focus. As an institutional citizen in the D.C. metro area, GW has a responsibility to help protect our local watersheds and to serve as a steward of one of the region’s most precious resources. The GWater Plan is a comprehensive plan for water sustainability at the university, and is a model for others in the watershed.

The U.S. National Climate Assessment

By Jim Buizer, Deputy Director for Climate Adaptation and International Development, Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona and Member, Executive Secretariat, NCADAC
(This article appears in the December, 2011 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Adapting to the impacts of climate changes already underway, and projected to continue to increase over this century, is critical to ensuring that our nation’s social and economic sectors can be resilient to these impacts. In recognition of the significance of climate change to the long-term wellbeing of the United States, the Federal Government is currently conducting the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA).  The NCA is Congressionally mandated under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 and is to be undertaken approximately every 4 years.  Administered by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and with support from the 18-Agency U.S. Global Change Research Program, the NCA is based on both peer-reviewed, scientifically produced knowledge and verifiable experiential knowledge coming from outside the research community.  Due at the end of 2013, the report will be a snapshot of what is known about climate change science and impacts.  It will shed light on options for adaptation to impacts of climate change; it will also recognize and communicate mitigation activities underway across the nation in order to prevent even greater climatic changes.

An NCA Office in Washington, D.C. coordinates the activities, and manages the advice and input of a Development and Advisory Committee (NCADAC), consisting of 60 experts appointed and chartered by the Secretary of Commerce, and drawn from academia, federal and state governments, industry and non-governmental associations.  In addition to the NCADAC, the Office will rely heavily on input from across the country.

Previous reports were published in 2000 and 2009.  In contrast with the previous efforts, this assessment includes the additional challenge of establishing a sustainable assessment process that involves networks of participants in regions and sectors across the country, in addition to engaging federal scientists in multiple agencies.  Continuing beyond the 2013 release of the report, mechanisms are being put in place to conduct ongoing, national-scale, consistent and replicable approaches to assessing current and projected climate impacts and climate-related risk in the context of other stressors.  To this end, the Assessment team is building a strong stakeholder engagement process, based on mobilizing a regionally coordinated network of local stakeholders and a nationally coordinated network of professional associations to connect to a series of important sectors and various levels of government.

The University community is central to both the production of this report and to a sustainable ongoing assessment process.  Our research and educational efforts, as well as our commitment as a community to mitigation and adaptation, are being highlighted as critical to the success of the NCA.

For more information please visit the NCA Website.

ACUPCC Committee Publishes Report on Preparing for and Responding to Climate Change

By David A. Caruso, President, Antioch University New England and Member, Higher Education Climate Adaption Committee and Abigail Abrash Walton, Assistant to the President for Sustainability and Social Justice, Antioch University New England
(This article appears in the December, 2011 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

As we sat down to write this article, we reflected on the climate change indicators we have witnessed right here in Keene, NH, where Antioch University New England (AUNE) is located.  The most noticeable of these is increased intensity and frequency of storm events.  Indeed, of the 15 largest flood events recorded in New Hampshire since 1934, eight have occurred in just the last five years.  These changes pose compelling challenges for our campus and surrounding communities and have motivated our faculty, students, staff, and community partners to begin to prepare for the risks of climate disruption and to pioneer new models of resiliency.

When the American College & University Presidents’ Commitment (ACUPCC) created a committee to develop a position paper on the role of higher education in climate adaptation, it was recognized that colleges and universities like ours have played a key role in efforts to prevent or mitigate global climate change.  In convening the group of climate experts and institutional leaders that formed the Higher Education Climate Adaptation Committee, the ACUPCC’s Steering Committee emphasized the importance for higher education of taking a new lead: preparing for and responding to impacts and implications of climate change that include unprecedented effects on infrastructure, ecosystems, energy & water supplies, food production, national security, and people’s livelihoods.

From the outset, Committee members adopted the perspective that the role of higher education institutions in climate change adaptation should cut across the three core functions of teaching, research, and community engagement.  The Committee also concluded that institutions must focus on both addressing climate risks to their own operations and engaging in a wide range of initiatives to help society adapt to climate disruption.  In both of these crucial areas, the Committee concluded that, while higher education institutions as a whole have not focused sufficiently on climate adaptation to date, their leadership is essential for successful climate change adaptation in the future.

The University of Arizona Provides Local Climate Adaptation Assessment & Planning Support

By Joe Abraham, Director, University of Arizona Office of Sustainability and Leslie Ethen, Director, City of Tucson Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development
(This article appears in the December, 2011 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

The World Meteorological Organization recently reported global atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) levels rose to new record levels in 2010, with the rate of increase on the rise. The steep upward trend in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations is due in large part to a lack of coherent and committed national and international institutions and policy addressing major emissions sources including fossil fuels, deforestation, and certain land use practices.

To counter this trend, many local and regional governments in the U.S. have begun implementing plans to reduce GHG emissions. Nevertheless, even if we could magically stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at year 2000 levels, the earth would be committed to some temperature increases, due to the long residence time of GHGs in the atmosphere. Consequently, some local and state governments are taking active measures to plan and prepare for inevitable changes, and to make the most of possible opportunities presented by climate change, by identifying options to adapt to projected climate impacts and to increase the resilience of environmental and social systems.

UA students participate in the design and installation of passive water harvesting features into the UA campus landscape

Nearing completion of its Phase One greenhouse gas mitigation plan, the City of Tucson’s Climate Change Advisory Committee (CCC) recently embarked on a complementary planning process to understand local and regional impacts of a changing climate and to identify ways to adapt to those impacts. Researchers with The University of Arizona’s Institute of the Environment have begun working with the CCC and a consultant hired by the City to complete a vulnerability assessment and assist with the development of outreach materials.