APPA Library

"Rethinking Carbon Neutrality on Campuses"
Author: Simone Pertuiset, JLL
Date: January/February 2024

In recent years, efforts by institutions and communities to address climate change have focused increasingly on achieving net carbon neutrality. This approach typically involves reducing—but not entirely eliminating—emissions on site, as long as equivalent counter measures are taken off site. Like balancing a scale, the idea is that any carbon released should be matched by emissions reduced elsewhere—essentially, by removing the same amount of carbon from the air. Campuses in the United States have been pioneers in this movement, with more than 800 higher education institutions committing to achieving net carbon neutrality. In 2021, 11 universities reached their carbon neutrality goals by combining on-campus emissions reductions with purchased off-campus measures and carbon sequestration. In this article, the author summarizes the study, Carbon Neutrality Should Not Be the End Goal: Lessons for Institutional Climate Action from U.S. Higher Education, that examines how these universities’ approaches align with the U.S.’s overarching national decarbonization agenda.

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