Virginia Commonwealth University is seeing green in its future and wants you to get involved.
In April 2008, VCU President Emeritus Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, joining more than 500 college and university presidents in addressing global warming by committing to initiatives that neutralize greenhouse gases emitted on their campuses. The commitment calls for universities to complete a comprehensive inventory of all GHG emissions on their campuses as a precursor to developing an institutional climate action plan for becoming climate-neutral and having no net GHG emissions.
VCU Statement of Sustainability
Sustainability is the goal of maintaining a good quality of life for those who presently experience it, while expanding that quality of life to those who lack it; understanding and respecting the needs of future generations and the limits of natural systems within which quality human lives are necessarily embedded and dependent.
Sustainability includes, but is not limited to:
- The recognition of threats to the climate system inherent within the continued introduction of carbon into the atmosphere by human activity, especially through carbon-based energy production and consumption, necessitating action to reduce human carbon footprints, both at the individual, community and institutional levels.
- The identification and reduction of negative impacts from human activity upon human health (e.g., air and water pollution, other exposures to hazardous substances — both long-term and immediate, stress impacts, etc.).
- The identification and reduction of negative impacts from human activity upon ecosystem health (e.g., lost habitat, biodiversity, ecosystem function, etc.).
- The recognition of the finite nature of our resource base; necessitating the reduction, reuse and recycling of materials, the identification and development of renewable resources, and increased efficiency in our use of all resources.
- On-going dialogue among experts, lay-people, leaders and citizens for the purpose of learning more about the nature of these challenges, both from a technical and a human value-based perspective.
Adopted by VCU Sustainability Committee, July 22, 2009
