In the coming year, Duke will celebrate meeting its 2024 neutrality goal through continued on-campus reductions, investments in renewable energy, and the procurement of high-quality carbon offsets. However, 2024 is not the end point and Duke is committed to refocusing on-campus work to reduce reliance on offsets in the long run such as electrifying Duke’s fleet and deepening energy reduction efforts across campus. Also, the Duke Climate Commitment has opened many doors to expanding climate and sustainability efforts in all corners of campus including:
- Launching Sustainable Duke’s Campus as Lab program through the partnership with students, staff, and faculty to develop robust projects to make campus more sustainable
- Engaging major departments and schools including Athletics, Student Affairs, and the Nicholas School of the Environment to develop strategies to infuse sustainability in their operations.
- Considering ways to continue to reduce Duke’s air travel and commuting emissions through targeted campaigns.
- Developing a framework to integrate climate and sustainability into students’ learning across the institution. This includes key learning outcomes, curricular integration opportunities, and processes around tracking climate and sustainability courses.
Climate and sustainability are topics at Duke that stretch across disciplines, interconnect operations and academics, cross campus boundaries, reach into the community, and around the world. As the University embarks on its second century, it is imperative that it address the global challenges posed by climate change with sustainable solutions that challenge existing paradigms to not only benefit current society but create a just and equitable world for future generations.