Development of SOU’s Climate Action Plan

SOU has made significant progress and demonstrated our commitment and leadership with our first Climate Action Plan in 2010 and signing the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) as a Charter Signatory in 2007. This Climate Action Plan updates the 2010 plan and reaffirms our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero emissions.

The overall goals of the development process were to:

• Update SOU’s 2010 Climate Action Plan
• Establish commitments to reduce our operational greenhouse gas emission
• Bring in a wide range of views
• Be inclusive and transparent
• Raise awareness about sustainability and climate action at SOU

The planning began through a fully remote process in 2021 and then further in-person planning took place in 2022. The development of the plan was informed by:

• A survey to all staff, students and faculty, and workshops available to all staff, students and faculty on their priorities for SOU in addressing climate change
• One-on-one meetings where interest indicated through survey response
• Discussions at SOU’s Sustainability Council
• Smaller working group of members of SOU Sustainability Council came together to help finalize SOU’s updated Climate Action Plan
• Meetings with staff, students and faculty who expressed an interest in being involved through the survey
• PEAK student projects around Climate Action and Energy Management on campus
• Consultation with staff, students and faculty
• Presentations at various groups and committees

SOU’s Climate Action Plan 2022

• Sets out high-level commitment and goals
• Focuses on carbon mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) in our operations
• Is designed to be achieved through innovation and creativity; and
• Is transparent and designed to hold us accountable and responsible

SOU’s Climate Action Plan is not intended to be a detailed schedule and program of implementation.

Alongside our actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions:

• We will ensure that our actions are equitable and resilient to the changing climate
• We will ensure that our actions contribute to SOU’s overall sustainability goals and value
• We will ensure that SOU’s climate action plan aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
• We will ensure that our actions contribute to an economically thriving institution
• We will ensure that our actions demonstrate climate leadership and climate justice
• We will continue to increase sustainability course offerings and build learnings from climate action into our academic courses

Our plan and implementation is evolving all the time and we welcome your input and feedback. We need everyone’s help and support to achieve our goals and succeed. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact sustainability@sou.edu