NAU defines plan for carbon neutrality

The Climate Action Plan 2010 recently was created to ensure that NAU stays on course in its path to achieving NAU President John Haeger’s call for carbon neutrality by 2020.

The Climate Action Plan targets seven areas to be addressed—academics; research, energy and climate change; operations; procurement; recycling and waste minimization; transportation; and water. Specific goals range from the inclusion of sustainability in curriculum to reducing emissions to finding financing mechanisms.

“NAU’s climate action plan is a strategic plan that will help guide the university’s sustainability initiatives over the next decade,” said Heather Farley, coordinator in the Office of Sustainability. “The plan is being used in conjunction with the STARS—sustainability tracking and assessment rating system—initiative to help propel our efforts and educate our NAU community about where we stand as a sustainable institution.”

The Climate Action Plan was drafted by committee members who came from the Environmental Caucus and worked over the course of a year to create the plan with additional help from University Marketing.

“This is a major step toward reaching our carbon neutrality goals and we are excited to build on the momentum that this plan creates,” said Farley.

In the interest of sustainability, the Climate Action Plan 2010 is available online and not in print.