I am delighted to share today a draft of a proposed new framework for sustainability, climate action, and environmental justice at Carleton — the culmination of over a year’s worth of work on the part of many, and an exciting next phase of the College’s leadership in sustainability. This framework reflects both robust community input and today’s best thinking. It emphasizes collective action, education, and significant infrastructure investments as a path forward for Carleton as we expand our long-standing efforts to reduce emissions and make Carleton a model for the integration of environmental education and sustainable practice.
One notable shift you will see in the framework is an evolution in our thinking about carbon neutrality as a goal. Many leaders in climate action are moving away from focusing primarily on institutional carbon neutrality, as such goals typically rely on some proportion of carbon offsets, a strategy viewed with increasing skepticism from experts. Our Sustainability Working Group has chosen instead to recommend that Carleton invest in a broad and ambitious array of solutions that support mitigation, adaptation, and environmental justice both on campus and in the community.
As Sustainability Working Group Co-chairs Sarah Fortner and Aaron Swoboda ’01 write in the framework’s introduction:
While we still aim to pursue the elimination of natural gas and greening our electricity, we find that a focus on neutrality limits our progress on currently unmeasured emissions and narrows the conversation to only reducing our campus emissions, rather than investing in work on new emissions (building standards, food, plastic lifecycle, etc.) and how we support broader transformation of sustainability (for example, action with our community partners to support operations or adaptation and justice). We know that our community seeks to learn and build a purposeful interdisciplinary community together. Pursuing an equitable, just, and sustainable future is integral to this. What we do next — from supporting education and action with each other, to building community where we live and in the field of higher education — will impact our role and the role of our graduates in addressing the climate crisis.
Carleton is already a leader in decarbonization — having reduced our overall energy usage by 64% since 2018 — and we will build upon this strong trajectory. The future of sustainability work at Carleton will include investments in our curriculum, people, facilities, and operations. At a high level, we aim to:
- Expand Environmental Studies offerings and more deeply weave sustainability through the curriculum, especially through cross-disciplinary collaboration.
- Increase opportunities for students to engage with climate solutions, and invest in partnerships in Northfield, Rice County, and neighboring Indigenous Nations for collective action.
- Continue to reduce emissions through leadership in infrastructure investments and community behavioral and cultural change.
- Create a Center for Sustainability to serve as a nexus for interdisciplinary and solutions-focused learning and collaboration.
I am very grateful to the Sustainability Working Group for articulating this new vision for sustainability at Carleton. We invite you to share any responses or questions you may have about this framework in one of three ways:
- Via a web form on the Sustainability Working Group website by Friday, September 27
- In person during an open meeting this Tuesday, September 24, in the Alumni Guest House Meeting Room during common time (noon–1 p.m.). Provost Michelle Mattson, Vice President and Treasurer Eric Runestad, and Director of Sustainability Sarah Fortner will be present to hear your reactions and answer any questions that arise.
- At Monday’s Carleton Student Association Senate meeting — held at 7 p.m. in Weitz 236 — where Michelle, Sarah, and Aaron Swoboda will also be present.
We will review your feedback with the goal of refining this draft and finalizing a framework for College Council review and Board of Trustees approval in October.
Featured in Carleton Today, September 19, 2024