the american college & university presidents’ c limate commitment (acupcc)

www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org (c) 2007 Presidents Climate Commitment. All rights reserved.

The American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment

(ACUPCC)

Climate Leadership in Higher Education


The Challenge

• Over-reliance on fossil fuels: catastrophic climate disruption and national security threat

• Threat to human progress• Halt growth of global warming pollution & cut GHG

emissions by 80%• Transformation of economy, institutions & daily lives• Vision & leadership of higher education


Reversing global warming Reversing global warming is a defining challenge is a defining challenge of the 21st century! of the 21st century!


The ACUPCC Initiative

• A network led by presidents & chancellors• High-visibility, national initiative• Joint action to leverage change representing over 650

institutions and one-third of the total student population• Action plan for climate neutrality• Research & education• Develop societal capacity


Critical Role of Higher Education

• Educational, research & public service missions• Shaping tomorrow’s leaders• Faculty, staff & student involvement• Innovate and role-model solutions• Research, action & demonstration projects• Catalyze investment & develop new markets


Critical Role of Higher Education

• Create living labs for students• Support green industries & demand for renewable

energy• Job creation• Innovative financing models• Local communities engagement

Thomas L. Purce, President of The Evergreen State College, signs the commitment in 2007


Benefits & Opportunities

• Invite stakeholders into meaningful purpose• Mission fulfillment• Attract top students, faculty, and staff• Operate more efficiently – cost savings• Lead technology race• Public-private partnerships• Stay ahead of regulatory curve

Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University and Co-Chair of ACUPCC Steering

Committee, speaks at the 2009 Summit


The Commitment

Create institutional structures & initiate two of seven suggested actions

Complete inventory of emissions

Develop institutional climate action plan

First 2 Months

Within 1 Year

Within 2 Years

Submit periodic progress reports

Ongoing


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Resources & Support

• The ACUPCC network is a learning community

• Publications and guidance documents to share best practices and create solutions on:– Climate action planning– Educational components of climate action– Green building; energy efficiency and performance contracting;

renewable energy; carbon offsets; etc.– Leading transformational change initiatives

• Public database of GHG inventories and climate action plans

www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/resources


Implementation Guide

• The technical “handbook” of the ACUPCC

• Provides details on specifics of agreement (e.g. sources covered to achieve “climate neutrality”

• Explains technical issues and links to further resources

• Outlines key policies of the initiative

http://www2.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/pdf/ACUPCC_IG_Final.pdf


ACUPCC Online Reporting System

• Hundreds of GHG Inventories and Climate Action Plans publicly available provide excellent examples

• Browse by institution, Carnegie Classification, or State and see statistics and dataviews for macro-level view of campus climate action

http://acupcc.aashe.org/


“The Implementer” Newsletter

• Free monthly e-newsletter with original content from ACUPCC institutions, service providers, policymakers, and leading experts in sustainability and climate change

• Latest news and updates on the ACUPCC, special benefits and opportunities

• Subscribe today!

http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/news-events/newsletter


Greenhouse Gas Inventory Brief

• Brief summary of common greenhouse gas inventory tools and resources, discussing the merits and drawbacks of each in the campus context

• Clean Air – Cool Planet free Campus Carbon Calculator tool most commonly used

• Great educational opportunity for students to conduct the inventory as part of class / research work

http://www2.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/documents/ACUPCCGHGInv_Br_vFinal.pdf


“Leading Profound Change”

• Developed by ACUPCC Steering Committee members as a resource for all presidents on leading transformational change initiatives

• Provides resources and techniques for providing the big-picture thinking to generate and sustain excitement and commitment

http://www2.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/documents/Leading_Profound_Change_ExecSum_final7-28-09.pdf


Academic Guidance Document

• Developed by Second Nature in coordination with a working group of ACUPCC signatories, their staff and a diverse group of experts in higher education

• High-level guidance to clarify the intent of the academic element of the Commitment

• Provides resources for signatories to create strategies for fulfilling the Commitment.

• Identifies best practices across higher education and resources to assist signatories.

http://www2.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/documents/EducationforClimateNeutralitySustainability_2009.05.07_finalWEB.pdf


ACUPCC Carbon Offset Protocol

• Developed by Second Nature in cooperation with a diverse group of ACUPCC signatories, their staff and carbon offset experts from around the country

• Voluntary standards to assist in evaluating if, how, and when to invest in offsets as part of a comprehensive climate action plan.

• Identifies key issues in determining high-quality offsets that are real, verifiable, additional and permanent.

http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/resources/guidance-documents/offset-protocol


Climate Action Planning Wiki

• Interactive how-to guide for college and university climate action planning

• Developed by AASHE with support from the ACUPCC,

• A fully monitored and moderated online collaboration tool that allows multiple users to directly edit one or more web-pages

• Check back regularly for the most up-to-date information and best-practices, and help keep the guide current and relevant by contributing content to it.

http://www.aashe.org/wiki/climate-planning-guide


Advancing Green Building Program

• Built environment accounts for about 40% of greenhouse gas emissions• Capacity-building program from Second Nature addressing challenges

faced by under-resourced colleges to ‘build green’ on campus. • Program activities include: Fellows program, financial and technical

resources, web-portal, capacity building for local building professionals • Supported by a $1,242,000 three-year grant from the Kresge

Foundation

http://www.secondnature.org/AGB.html


Campus Green Builder

• “One-stop Shop” for information, resources, and expertise on green building on campus

• Developed by Second Nature as part of the Advancing Green Building in Higher Education program, which supports under-resourced institutions in enjoying the benefits of green building

• Register to join the community and check back regularly for new content and opportunities

http://www.campusgreenbuilder.org/


Financing Sustainability on Campus

• Comprehensive overview of options, mechanisms, and tools for financing sustainability projects on campus

• Covers revolving loan funds, bonds, tax-exemptions, power purchase agreements, leases, federal funding, grants, private equity investors, and more…

• Geared towards business officers and administrators – newcomers and experienced practitioners

• Developed by Second Nature for NACUBO

http://www.nacubo.org/Products/Online_Publications/Financing_Sustainability_on_Campus.html


Energy Efficiency Building Retrofits

• Partnership between the ACUPCC and the Clinton Climate Initiative

• Best Practices Toolkit: Energy Performance Contracting for Higher Education

• Goal of exponentially increasing the number of large-scale energy saving retrofits for campus buildings

• ACUPCC signatories can take advantage of the benefits CCI’s Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program (EEBRP) including project support and CCI’s established relationships with private sector financial institutions, energy services companies (ESCOs), and product manufacturers

http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/resources/eebrp


ACUPCC Webinar Series

• A suite of free educational and practical webinars on a variety of topics related to climate action planning

• Part of our Corporate Partners Program, which is part of the ACUPCC learning community, providing a milieu for knowledge-sharing between the higher education and private sectors.

http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/resources/webinars


Education and Training Offerings

• ACUPCC – NAELS Partnership: National Association of Environmental Law Societies is bringing its innovative sustainability consulting model – Campus Climate Neutral – to 10 ACUPCC institutions to offer free climate action planning assistance by working with faculty and students on campus to develop a climate action planning project as part of their coursework.

• Regional 2-day Climate Action Planning workshops with pre- and post-workshop consulting and coaching are under development for launch in the spring of 2010.

• Preconference workshops at NACUBO’s Smart & Sustainable conference, Greening the Campus, and the annual AASHE conference.

• Presentations and online learning resources are also available.

http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/resources/education-training


Testimonials

“Global warming is a defining issue of the 21st century, and higher education must be a leader in addressing global climate change through research, education, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Amy Gutmann

President, University of Pennsylvania

ACUPCC Leadership Circle Member


Testimonials

“More than ever, universities must take leadership roles to address the grand challenges of the twenty-first century, and climate change is paramount among these.”

Michael M. Crow

President, Arizona State University



Testimonials

“We are in the middle of one of those rare moments when the right thing to do it also the economically smart thing to do.”

Kathleen Schatzberg

President, Cape Cod Community College



Governance

The ACUPCC is a network governed by a Steering Committee of presidents and chancellors, who make the policy decisions and set the direction of the initiative.

Three “supporting organizations” – Second Nature, AASHE, and ecoAmerica – provide administrative and technical support for the Steering Committee and the ACUPCC network.


Corporate Sponsors

Diamond:

Platinum:

http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/supporters/corporate


Contact Information

Anthony D. CortesePresidentSecond [email protected]

Toni NelsonACUPCC Program Director Second Nature [email protected]

www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org

the american college & university presidents’ c limate commitment (acupcc)

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