Giving Compass' Take:

• More than 7,000 universities vowed to take climate action and aim to be carbon-neutral by 2030 or 2050 at the latest. 

• What role can donors play in supporting universities in this initiative? 

• Read about how funders are supporting coalitions for climate justice. 

More than 7,000 higher and further education institutions worldwide declared a climate emergency in a letter on July 10 and recognised “the need for a drastic societal shift to combat the growing threat of climate change”.

They plan to increase the delivery of environmental and sustainability education in their courses and campus programmes, and go carbon-neutral by 2030, or 2050 at the latest. They also plan to mobilise more resources for “action-oriented climate change research” and skills development.

The letter, which comes ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit on Sept 23, was organised by The Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education (EAUC)—an association that promotes environmental sustainability in further and higher education institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—as well as United States-based climate action organisation Second Nature and UN Environment’s Youth and Education Alliance.

The participating networks—such as the China Green University Network (CGUN) and Asian Sustainable Campus Network (ASCN)—represent more than 7,000 higher and further education institutions, said UN Environment in a press statement.

The organisers expect more than 10,000 institutions to come on board by the end of the year.

Read the full article about higher education institutions taking climate action by Zafirah Zein at Eco-Business.