American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment

The Annual ACUPCC Climate Leadership Summit offers a unique opportunity for senior leadership – including presidents and chancellors, provosts, and financial officers – from colleges and universities around the country to meet with one another and participate in a high-level dialogue about how to achieve the goals of the ACUPCC and promote sustainability on their campuses and throughout all of higher education.

Ten ACUPCC signatory schools were selected to receive the prestigious 2012 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards. Recipient schools have demonstrated unparalleled campus innovation and climate leadership that helps transition society to a clean, just, and sustainable future.

Pictured above: An Allegheny student performs an energy audit at the home of the college’s president; MWCC’s two 1.65 MW wind turbines generate enough electricity to meet the annual demand on the 450,000-square-foot campus; Weber State’s Olympic sized swimming pool is heated exclusively by solar panels on the building’s cool roof.
Photos courtesy, L-R: Allegheny College, Mount Wachusett Community College, Justin Owen/Weber State University.

Colleges and universities must exercise leadership in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways to eliminate global warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality. We hope you will join us in supporting the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

This report (PDF), released in November 2011 and developed by the Higher Education Climate Adaptation Committee, evaluates how colleges and universities are preparing society for a changing climate through their education, research, operations, and community engagement activities.

Second Nature, working with topic experts, has developed a series of briefing papers focused on key issues related to higher education’s role in creating a sustainable society. These concise publications provide presidents, senior administrators, and anyone interested in campus sustainability with information, ideas, and practical steps to help them fulfill their commitment through the ACUPCC and achieve their sustainability goals.