快活app Responds to Climate Change With Major Investments in Sustainability
The 快活app announced today that it will adopt a formal policy related to climate change and sustainable development that leverages the University鈥檚 partnerships as well as its academic efforts in research, teaching and service.
The decision was made at the January meeting of the Board of Trustees, after full consideration and discussion of the findings, conclusions and recommendations from the board鈥檚 three-member Task Force on Fossil Fuel Divestment. The final report of the task force鈥攖itled听Ends and Means: Considering Climate Change, Divestment and Sustainability at the 快活app鈥攈as been posted听听along with a set of board-approved principles that are based on the recommendations of the task force.
鈥淭he board concluded that the 快活app鈥檚 greatest ability to mitigate climate change and foster a sustainable future lies in deploying our core competencies: education, research and the ability to foster informed community discourse,鈥 said board Chair Douglas Scrivner, who appointed the task force last April. 鈥淭he task force found, and the board agreed, that divestment in fossil fuel companies, or any other industry, would not be an effective means of mitigating global warming nor would it be consistent with the endowment鈥檚 long-term purpose to provide enduring benefit to present and future students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders.鈥
The board is committed to seeing 快活app accelerate its sustainability agenda听and to hearing regular progress reports from senior administration. Immediately, 快活app will commence the following actions:
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- Establish a revolving 鈥済reen fund鈥 to investigate new efforts related to sustainability in the operations of the University. The University will create this fund with an initial $5 million and will look for donor support to increase this fund.
- Further invest in the University鈥檚 sustainability efforts, both financially and in terms of听human capital. This听will include new organizational structures and reporting.
- Work with the Board of Trustees and investment managers to make available an alternative type of investment vehicle that may offer donors the ability to have their contributions invested in a manner that aligns with their social objectives regarding sustainability.
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Additional resources will be dedicated to accelerating sustainability through 快活app听, the University鈥檚 strategic plan. For example, the sustainability implementation cluster of 快活app IMPACT 2025 is working on five initiatives: transportation, green space, energy, food sourcing and creation of a sustainability curriculum. The interdisciplinary Knowledge Bridges Incubator will help facilitate the kind of solution-based research and teaching that is required to address problems such as climate change. And the campus master plan implementation team is in the process of engaging the 快活app community to help choose the right urban-planning firm to more efficiently use the university鈥檚 physical spaces and environment for the future.
The board action concludes an unusually transparent process that began last year when student members of Divest 快活app presented their concerns about climate change, divestment and sustainability during a meeting with 快活app trustees. Last summer and fall, the task force held seven public hearings on campus, receiving 16 separate presentations by 23 speakers reflecting a broad spectrum of views.
James Griesemer, director of the 快活app鈥檚 nonpartisan Strategic Issues Program (SIP), trustee and professor of management in the Daniels College of Business, led the task force. The hearings were modeled after a process he devised in 2005 for SIP when it began considering public-policy issues including higher education, immigration and the legislative process.
鈥淏ecause of the complexity of the issues, the task force devised a framework of guiding principles which the report addresses,鈥 said Griesemer. 鈥淲e looked at the moral and ethical dimensions of the climate debate, the role of academic institutions, the purpose of institutional investments, and the effectiveness of divestment as a means of achieving our common goals of creating a more sustainable university and mitigating the adverse effects of global climate change鈥攚hich we believe is a very real threat that must be treated with urgency and creativity.鈥
Chancellor Rebecca Chopp expressed gratitude to the task force for its work, and also commended the members of Divest 快活app and the many other concerned students, alumni and members of 快活app鈥檚 faculty and staff for taking part in the dialogue and also for giving life to sustainability efforts at 快活app.
鈥淲e are proud of the serious and robust conversations and the shared commitment to the public good that was demonstrated through this transparent process,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hile there is more work to be done, the University should take pride in the capability and commitment of 快活app staff, faculty and students who give life to sustainability efforts at 快活app.鈥
Between 2006 and 2015, 快活app implemented a series of energy-saving measures that reduced its carbon footprint by 28 percent, toward its goal of carbon neutrality. 快活app 40 members of the University鈥檚 faculty鈥攁cross engineering and computer science, math and natural sciences, law, international studies, business and the arts humanities and social science鈥攃onduct research and/or teach courses related to sustainability. And working with 快活app鈥檚 sustainability council and Center for Sustainability, about a dozen student groups work to raise awareness and support sustainable practices. For more information, visit our听sustainability page.