Climate Action Pursuit 2021

Click VIDEO STREAM to watch the recording of this session.



This session will share best practices and latest trends for carbon reduction tactics, focusing on renewable energy, carbon offsets, and biomethane. While many campuses are procuring renewable energy and/or carbon offsets, many do not know the details of how to ensure they are high-quality and having maximum impact. Concrete considerations and case studies will be shared to leave the audience with practical next steps to bring back to their campuses.

The clock is ticking to greatly reduce carbon emissions to avoid the worst of a climate catastrophe. These negative impacts will affect everyone, not just those who are emitting the most carbon, and will have a disproportionately large impact on the most vulnerable communities around the world. Everyone should be asking themselves what they can do to avoid this fate and how they can leverage the resources at their campus to go from being part of the problem to part of the solution. The first step to carbon reduction is energy efficiency. But once your campus is as efficient as possible (with a plan for continual improvements), what can be done next? This session will review the main tools schools can use to greatly reduce their carbon emissions, from procuring the traditional options of renewable energy and carbon offsets, to the more nascent option of renewable natural gas. To begin, key considerations will be reviewed when looking to utilize these different tools to ensure purchasers are having maximum impact. Starting with renewable energy procurement, considerations discussed will include fundamental REC accounting and claims as well as differing procurement strategies. For carbon offsets, topics will include how to ensure emission reductions are real and verified as well as co-benefits to consider. Finally, the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions will discuss why it is expanding its Green-e voluntary certification program to include Renewable Natural Gas, including the challenges and opportunities for this new resource in the voluntary market. This session will share real life examples from Swarthmore College, Chatham University, and the University at Buffalo sharing their experience utilizing these climate action tools.