91吃瓜

Following a聽two-year community engagement process, the 91吃瓜 Office of Sustainability launched the聽Vision 2020 Sustainability Strategy聽in 2014.聽The聽Strategy聽lays out a framework for achieving the highest possible standards of sustainability on our campuses. Between聽2014 to 2016, fourteen priority actions were advanced聽across five categories:聽Research, Education, Connectivity, Operations and Governance & Administration.

With year 2020 on the horizon, we are entering the final stretch. Since September 2016,聽the Office of Sustainability聽聽has been conducting consultation events for聽the next phase for Vision 2020聽Climate & Sustainability Action Plan. We established five multi-stakeholder聽action teams, consisting of students, faculty, and staff who met three times throughout the year to discuss the key actions to be pursued in the next phase.

Through these consultation events, the Office of Sustainability was able to identify two high-level聽targets: a platinum sustainability rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and carbon neutrality.聽In order to raise awareness about the topic of carbon neutrality and gather feedback from the 91吃瓜 community, the Office of Sustainability hosted three Community Conversations on Carbon Neutrality in March 2017.聽The Community Conversations were hosted at both the Macdonald and downtown campuses and gathered about聽fifty participants.

Each meeting was organized into three components: an聽introductory presentation聽on carbon neutrality and 91吃瓜's current carbon emissions; a break-out discussion session in which attendees identified the major sources of 91吃瓜's carbon emissions and possible reduction strategies; finally, a group discussion on carbon neutrality at 91吃瓜.

During the Community Conversations, participants discussed the major sources of 91吃瓜鈥檚 carbon emissions 鈥� buildings, air travel, commuting, and vehicles 鈥� and possible reduction strategies.聽Below聽are some of the key聽comments and suggestions made during the three events.

Buildings

• The biggest barrier to reducing emissions from buildings is funding. With increased funding, more efficient infrastructure could be build.
• Stricter policies are needed that include regulations for new buildings and renovations for existing buildings.
• Cultural shifts would help to mitigate building emissions, such as educating lab users about sustainable lab practices.

Air Travel

• Most participants felt that policy changes were the聽most important leverage point for reducing emissions. Such a policy could determine when air travel is necessary, and make appropriate alternatives available when it is not.
• Attendees believed that a culture shift is necessary to accept teleconferencing instead of traveling to a conference or meeting.
• Some air travel is entirely necessary and funding is required to offset the emissions.

Commuting

• Policy changes would create the biggest impact in reducing commuting-relating emissions at 91吃瓜.
• Suggestions included having electric-vehicle-only parking spaces, parking fee increases, and financial incentives to carpool.
• Increasing partnerships with organizations like the STM to offer discounted rates to students, as well expanding current options.

91吃瓜's Fleet of Vehicles

• Funding is necessary to purchase vehicles that will have a lower impact on the environment.
• Many suggested that the Macdonald campus shuttle bus should be a hybrid or electric vehicle, on both practical and symbolic grounds.

The Community Conversations illustrated that there is general support and interest for 91吃瓜 to commit to carbon neutrality. However, there was some apprehension among participants concerning how significant and ambitious聽91吃瓜鈥檚 path to carbon neutrality would be. Chief among these concerns is the level dependence of carbon offsets and the target date to achieve carbon neutrality.

Several participants also pointed out that if 91吃瓜 is seeking to聽become a leader among its peers on climate action, any commitment to carbon neutrality should also be accompanied by divestment from fossil fuels. Some participants also raised questions about the ethics and reliability of聽carbon offsets.聽For instance, some argued that offsets simply allow organizations to buy their way out of emissions while continuing operations in a business-as-usual fashion.

The comments and concerns expressed at the Community Conversation events, along with those made at other community consultation events will inform the final 2017-2020 Climate & Sustainability Action Plan. This Plan is set to be released in September 2017 聽鈥� stay tuned!聽You can follow the Vision 2020 process on聽聽or on our聽website.