Emerson has made two public commitments related to mitigating and adapting to climate change. Are you familiar with them? If not, here is a brief overview.
Carbon neutral by 2030
In 2007, then College President Lee Pelton signed what was then known as the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). In signing the pledge to address climate change through our operations, Emerson committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Ten colleges and universities in the U.S. have already achieved this goal and we look forward to joining them as soon as possible.
The carbon neutrality commitment means that the College must neutralize all Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect from purchased electricity) emissions, along with Scope 3 (indirect from other sources) emissions associated with regular commuting to and from campus and all college-funded travel. In addition to achieving that 2030 goal, the pledge mandates that we submit annual reporting on our greenhouse gas emissions. You can view our reporting page here.
Climate resilience
Climate change is already creating impacts, including on our campus and the surrounding community. Downtown Boston is specifically prone to flooding and extreme heat. In 2016, Emerson added the resilience portion to both set goals on and develop reporting about our campus and neighbors’ ability to manage the impacts of climate change.
Since the original signing, the ACUPCC commitment has been taken over by the nonprofit organization Second Nature, which now calls the combination of both the mitigation and resilience portions the Presidents’ Climate Commitment. You can download the full text of the commitment here.
These goals are just the beginning. As you probably know, we are currently working on a plan to achieve our existing goals and to set parallel goals related to other sustainability metrics. If you want to get involved in the planning process, check out opportunities for doing so here or get in touch directly at sustainability@emerson.edu.