Posts by Ruby Woodside

Higher education institutions engage in many different types of emission reduction activities to achieve campus carbon neutrality. Recently, many schools have become interested in purchasing carbon offsets to counteract their unavoidable travel-related Scope 3 emissions. Data Analysis I looked at the data that Signatories, higher ed institutions that have signed commitments to climate action, reported […]

Aviation is a significant contributor to climate change. Emissions from aviation continue to grow. In fact, CO2 emissions from international aviation have increased by 83% since 1990. However, it is challenging to address the issue since most people cannot give up traveling completely. This is one of the reasons for CORSIA, the Carbon Offsetting and […]

One of the questions we hear most from schools that are beginning implementation of the Climate or Resilience Commitment is: what does it mean to work with my community? The Commitments ask signatories to reach beyond the campus boundary and build climate resilience with the surrounding neighborhood, town, or city. The first step in doing […]

This week Middlebury College in Vermont announced carbon neutrality. Congratulations! Middlebury becomes the third school in the Climate Leadership Network to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality, joining Green Mountain College and Colby College.   Middlebury was one of the first institutions to sign the Carbon Commitment in 2007. However, the school’s commitment to sustainability […]

This post was jointly written by Sustainability Consultant Emilie Rex and New England Fellow Ruby Woodside Fundamental challenges to higher education—from rising student debt burden to increasingly severe state appropriations cuts—coupled with last week’s dramatic political shift provide us an unprecedented opportunity to clarify the critical role the Climate Leadership Commitments play in supporting our […]

This summer Second Nature is facilitating a program to help New England Climate Leadership Commitment signatories align their climate action efforts with their institution’s strategic priorities and mission. By helping signatories identify how mitigating and adapting to climate change contributes to executive level priorities, the Climate Leadership Alignment Initiative will demonstrate the value of climate […]