Yale Accelerates Carbon Reduction Targets, Creates New Divestment Policies

(Credit: Yale University)

As part of its ongoing sustainability plan, Yale University has announced it is accelerating its carbon reduction targets, aiming to be net zero by 2035, and actual zero (no offsets) by 2050. The University has also revamped the $31.2 billion Yale Endowment fossil fuel investment principles.

Strategies to achieve the new carbon reduction targets include, but are not limited to:

• Electrifying campus heating and cooling loads.
• Continuing to modify the utility grid for greater efficiency and emission reductions.
• Investing in university buildings and equipment on a large scale.
• Beta testing multiple technologies that use renewable fuels.
• Reviewing these plans every five years to ensure that Yale’s on-campus investments are more effective at lowering carbon emissions than off-campus alternatives.

Coupled with the announcement, the University shared its updated responsible investment principles along with an initial list of fossil fuel companies, including many oil and gas companies, now ineligible for investment by the Yale Endowment. The principles were developed by an expert faculty panel appointed by President Peter Salovey after considerable outreach and study by faculty and staff experts. Implementation of the principles is intended to be dynamic, taking into account technological innovation, business evolution, shifts in government policies, and other changes that are expected to occur as the world transitions to cleaner energy.

The moves are important not only as a signal to the global academic and research community but also because Yale is a vital resource for business partnership and collaboration. For instance, the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC) was launched earlier this year with the generous support of FedEx. The Center will study Earth’s natural processes for ways to reduce atmospheric carbon and mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. Early projects include optimizing forest restoration, agricultural practices, and mineral weathering for carbon uptake on land and at sea.

“Climate experts around the globe are clear: we must act to avoid catastrophic, irreversible damage to our planet due to greenhouse gases,” said President Peter Salovey. “Taken together, our announcement today amounts to a simple commitment: every part of Yale will do its part in the critical coming decades.”

“With the expertise we have at Yale, we have a responsibility to drive breakthroughs,” Provost Scott Strobel said. “Meeting the challenges of the climate crisis requires that we develop global solutions through scholarship, research, and collaboration, and lead by the example of our principles and our work.”