Climate Protection

• Description

  Each campus and the UC Office of the President will develop strategies for meeting the following UC goals:

  1. Climate neutrality from scope 1 and 2 sources by 2025

  2. Climate neutrality from specific scope 3 sources (as defined by Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment) by 2050 or sooner.

  In addition, at a minimum, meet the following intermediate goal in pursuit of climate neutrality:

  3. Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

  For purposes of this section, campuses shall include their related health location for all goals. GHG emissions reduction goals pertain to emissions of the six Kyoto greenhouse gasses originating from all scope 1 and scope 2 sources as specified by the Climate Registry, and from scope 3 emissions as specified by Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment, which includes air travel paid through the institution; and commuting to and from campus by students, faculty and other academic appointees, and staff. These goals will be pursued while maintaining the research, education, and public service missions of the University.

  Campuses subject to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, California Air Resources Board (CARB) Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting or participation in the CARB Cap-and-Trade Program shall perform to those regulatory requirements.

   

• Programming

  1. Each campus will maintain individual membership with The Climate Registry (TCR)10. Campuses shall include their health locations in their membership.

  2. Each campus will complete a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions inventory annually. Campuses shall include their health locations in their inventories.

  3. To comply with TCR and the Second Nature Carbon Commitment requirements, 11 inventories should contain emissions of the six Kyoto greenhouse gasses from scope 1 and 2 emission sources outlined in the TCR General Reporting Protocol; and scope 3 emissions sources outlined by the Second Nature Carbon Commitment’s Implementation Guide. All UC campuses will report their updated emissions inventories through the Second Nature Carbon Commitment online reporting tool at least biennially. Campuses must verify all emissions inventories through TCR.Campuses may either pursue verification annually (for the previous year’s emissions inventory) or biennially (for the emissions inventories from the previous two years).

  4. Campuses subject to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, California Air Resources Board (CARB) Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting, or participation in the CARB Cap-and-Trade Program shall complete the relevant emissions inventories outlined in the USEPA and CARB reporting protocols.

  5. Each campus will regularly update its climate action plan for reducing GHG emissions to 1990 levels by calendar year 2020 (annual 2020 emissions to be reported in 2021); achieving climate neutrality for scope 1 and 2 sources by calendar year 2025 (annual 2025 emissions reported in 2026), and achieving climate neutrality for the Second Nature Carbon Commitment-specified scope 3 sources (as defined by Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment) for calendar year 2050 (annual 2050 emissions reported in 2051). This will include an annual review and update, if needed, of the GHG reduction strategies reported by the campus to the UC Office of the President (UCOP). Campuses shall include their health locations in the action plan.

  6. Each campus will complete an assessment of Scope 1 emissions from natural gas combustion by 2035 or at the date when that location’s combined heat & power plant (or any other major fossil fuel-using campus infrastructure) is planned for capital renewal or major repair, whichever occurs first. The assessment should determine the best pathway, at that point, to decarbonize 80% of scope 1 emissions through means other than offsets. A de-carbonization assessment should evaluate, but is not limited to, (1) progress toward decarbonization of piped gas, (2) the feasibility of installing on-site carbon capture, (3) electrification of carbon-emitting plant equipment, (4) hydrogen or synthetic methane injection, (5) emergent technologies, and (6) energy efficiency directed at Scope 1 footprint reductions. The assessment should be provided to campus leadership and inform each campus’s Climate Action Plan.

  7. The Climate Change Working Group (CCWG), under the UC Sustainability Steering Committee and represented on the President’s Global Climate Leadership Council, will monitor progress toward reaching the stated goals for GHG reduction, and will evaluate suggestions for strategies and programs to reach these goals. 8. The CCWG will develop protocols for growth adjustment, data normalization, and accurate reporting procedures, as required.