HEI Leaders to Guide Net Zero Endowments Initiative

A group of seventeen leaders from higher education endowments, investment consultants, asset managers and nonprofit partners recently joined together as a steering committee to guide a new Net Zero Endowments initiative hosted by the Intentional Endowments Network. The Net Zero Endowments steering committee aims to accelerate the adoption of net zero portfolio commitments to 50 endowments over the next two years.

U North Carolina Chapel Hill Receives $1M for 'Champion Sustainability Fund'

A new partnership between the university and Champion Athleticwear will launch the Champion Sustainability Fund with a $1 million investment from Champion. Once operational, the revolving fund will support several new programs, including the Champion Sustainability Research Accelerator, which will award $50,000 annually to Carolina faculty whose research programs are poised to improve sustainability and environmental outcomes, and the Sustainable Carolina Opportunity Fund, which will provide seed funding for scalable opportunities to advance sustainability.

U Southern California Researchers Partner With LA to Reduce Heat Zones

The new USC Urban Trees Initiative provides a science-based approach to help advance the L.A. Mayor's Green New Deal, which calls for increasing forest canopy specifically in low-income heat zones by 50 percent by 2028.

THE Releases 2021 Impact Rankings

The Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings assess universities on their contributions to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. The 2021 ranking includes 1,115 universities from 94 countries/regions. The overall ranking is led by the University of Manchester (U.K.), followed by three Australian universities–University of Sydney, RMIT University and La Trobe University, and then Queen's University in Canada.

Smith College Pledges $200,000 to Community Resilience Hub

The university's $200,000 pledge towards the Community Resilience Hub aims to support residents who face chronic and acute stress due to natural and human-caused disasters, climate change and social and economic challenges.

ISCN Announces 2021 Award Winners

The International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) recently announced the 2021 Excellence Award winners, which seek to recognize sustainable campus projects that demonstrate leadership, creativity, effectiveness and outstanding performance. Covenant University won the award for Whole Systems Approach; University of Leeds received the award in the Partnerships for Progress category, and National University of Singapore was selected for the award in Cultural Change for Sustainability.

Northwestern U & U Chicago Receive EPA Energy Star Award

Northwestern University was honored with the Partner of the Year: Sustained Excellence award for the second year. The University of Chicago received the Partner of the Year award for the first time. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star Partner of the Year awards recognize institutions and organizations for their year-over-year commitment to energy efficiency.

Stevens Institute Technology to Source 100% Renewable Energy

The institution will purchase all electricity needed from regional wind, hydropower or solar energy sources beginning on Oct. 1, 2021.

U Pennsylvania Announces Zero GHG Emissions From Investments

The University of Pennsylvania Office of Investments recently announced the goal of reducing the net greenhouse gas emissions from Penn’s endowment investments to zero by 2050.