New Harvard Sustainability Action Plan aims to unite climate justice with DEI
The sustainability plan seeks to make historical buildings become 'climate-neutral,' such as the 300-year-old Massachusetts Hall.
Student climate activists praised the new plan for its goals like becoming fossil fuel-neutral by 2026, in addition to promoting DEI.
One of America’s leading institutions is attempting to implement a new climate change strategy that simultaneously advances Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Harvard University’s Presidential Committee on Sustainability, the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and the Office of Sustainability have announced a joint “Sustainability Action Plan,” which will replace a similar initiative that was discontinued in 2021.
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According to The Harvard Crimson, campus groups and student activists praised the university as the new plan focuses on goals like becoming fossil fuel-neutral by 2026, becoming fossil fuel-free by 2050, and retrofitting buildings on campus to reduce carbon emissions, in addition to promoting DEI.
The plan focuses on reimagining campus operations, redefining building construction processes, and rethinking campus energy systems. Although Harvard claims that the environment, health, and DEI are interconnected, the plan fails to outline specifics of this intersectional approach or timelines for planning.
Currently, buildings on campus at Harvard account for 97% of its emissions. The sustainability plan seeks to make historical buildings to be climate-neutral, such as the 300-year-old Massachusetts Hall.
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Harvard has not disclosed specific cost figures associated with the Sustainability Action Plan. The university has encouraged its more than 400,000 alumni to contribute donations while also increasing tuition on students in recent years.
In April, Campus Reform reported that Divest Harvard, a student climate change organization, demanded that law professor Jody Freeman cut ties with the large oil-producing company ConocoPhillips.
Campus Reform contacted Harvard University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
