Post-secondary institutions actions on climate change
As the sound of climate activism fills the news and the streets all around the world. Post-secondary institutions succumb to show the actions they are taking in order to stand with a greener world. In part because students are pushing for change according to Fritz Okrah, VP of Finance at the Student Energy club at Carleton University, Ottawa.
“Students have so many ideas to share, it’s just a matter of giving us the opportunity to make our voices heard and to be part of the solution. Because at the end this is the world that we’re going to inherit and we want to have a say,” says Okrah.
Okrah says Student Energy is a student-run global club in post-secondary institutions that educates other students about climate change as well as participate in international conferences with other countries to help stop climate change.
A 2018 report released by Carleton University declares the institution as the seventh best at UI Green metric reading in North America and the second best in Canada.
The world rankings are made by a data research association at the University of Indonesia. The university collects data from at least 712 universities and colleges around the world through asking questions in a survey according to Carleton’s report as well as the official website. Participating universities are then ranked world-wide under a universal reading system.
The official UI Green metric website says, the criteria includes information about the size of the university, both spatially and in terms of population, the campus location and the amount of green space. The university also collects information on energy use, transport, water use, recycling and waste treatment. In addition, it will ask about efforts being made by the institution towards establishing green policies and management.
Looking at the data provided by the 2018-19 sustainability report, Carleton University is ranked 33rd in the World in UI Green metrics. Carleton started taking action slowly in 2004. But officially started taking bigger action and joining associations like the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in 2009.
Participants rate themselves through data collected which will then be rated by the association and given either a bronze, silver, gold or platinum rating; with Carleton having a silver rating.
Since 2009, Carleton University has reduced 35% in emissions intensity, 56% Overall Waste Diversion rate, 21% reduction in energy intensity, they got 11 certified green buildings, 71% of trips by sustainable modes of transportation, zero waste food courts in both the university centre and The Caf/residence cafeteria with 24% purchases made through dining services comprised of local, ecological and humane foods.
Carleton University has posted their Energy Master Plan as another part of the report; The plan provides key strategies directed for achieving reductions in energy usage and emissions reduction; utility and carbon cost savings; campus engagement towards the university’s plan and individual actions. Carleton has also set targets towards carbon reduction with a 50% reduction by 2030 and zero carbon/neutral by 2050.
The zero-carbon goal at the university comes from a pledge that was made to the Carbon 613 organization; which was launched in 2015 by EnviroCentre for their business sustainability program according to Vita Sgardello, the organization’s communications specialist and a news article published by Postmedia Network in 2015.
In March 2019, Carleton University decided to join Carbon 613, a non-profit initiative by EnviroCentre which aims to “push” businesses into decreasing their carbon emissions to net zero by the year 2050.
“We think that they (Carleton University) are a very great example of an organization that is trying to push the needle on climate action; and they are really trying hard to take sustainability seriously and they are trying to embed it into some of their business practices,” says Sgardello.
Participants in the initiative pay a membership fee which allows them to have the support and the coaching they need in order to meet their “overarching goal.”
The organization gets its funding from membership fees and funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation says Sgardello.
Both Sgardello and Okrah agree that while it is hard to give an actual number on how much post-secondary institutions affect the climate globally, having a sustainable plan that includes different approaches to be a climate friendly space is crucial for local development.
“We really believe in working together and working with businesses and institutions to make change happen, so that is very important to us,” says Sgardello.
Other post-secondary institutions in Ottawa like University of Ottawa is also working on making their institution more sustainable considering they have a sustainability website that showcases their achievements.
University of Ottawa has scored Silver in the ASHEE 2019. The university has also been ranked fifth in Canada in UI Green Metric, and 12th in North America.
Over the years, University of Ottawa has been taking measures to make its institutions a more sustainable space and that includes it being the first university campus in Ontario that is plastic water bottle free.
Other achievements include, In 2016, the University of Ottawa became the first Canadian university and only the second in the world to sign on to the Montreal Carbon Pledge.
They have also set a goal of reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions by 34% from 2005 level by the year 2020.