The Boston University Climate Action Plan Task Force held its second public forum Tuesday evening, and at it presented an opportunity for the BU community and task force members to discuss the university’s carbon footprint and efforts to reduce the effects of the consequences of climate change.
A crowd of nearly 40 students and faculty members convened at the Photonics Center to have a conversation about the relationship between climate activism and university policy. The forum was hosted by Anthony Janetos, the chair of the Task Force, and Dennis Carlberg, BU’s sustainability director.
“What I hope [this forum] will accomplish,” Carlberg said before the event, “will be getting input from the BU community on the Climate Action Plan and helping us understand how we can improve things and make a good, solid plan that the trustees will accept, and then we can move forward.”
The Task Force was delegated the responsibility of drafting a plan to reduce the university’s overall emissions and prepare for the impacts of global warming on the Charles River Campus last fall. The draft report, which was released in September, delineates recommended actions the university should take to combat climate change.
The first goal of the draft report is to prepare the campus for the impacts of climate change, such as floods and heat waves, Janetos explained to audience members. In order to avoid dangerous flood damage and losses of expensive equipment due to rising sea levels and potential storm surges, the plan recommends that the university focus on moving mechanical and research equipment from basements to higher levels of BU buildings.
The second goal is to reduce the university’s net emissions to zero by 2040. This, Janetos added, will be accomplished by enacting aggressive policies to divest from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy in the coming years.
The third goal is to apply emission and waste reduction techniques to indirect emissions, such as food waste and emissions from the BU bus fleet, Janetos said. The fourth goal is to expand climate change education and research, and the last goal is to integrate the plan with BU’s own strategic plan that will ultimately be inducted by the university’s Board of Trustees.
“It’s important that [BU] makes a contribution,” Janetos said during the forum. “We’re one of the five largest employers in Boston. We are a large, influential, locally important institution. We are exactly the kind of institution that can do this kind of thing in order to demonstrate what is actually feasible.”
After the preliminary presentation of the plan, Janetos and Carlberg opened the floor to questions from members of the BU and local Boston communities about the details of the draft report and how it will affect them.
Those who asked questions included BU students, faculty and Boston residents who expressed concern with the issue of the impacts of climate change on the city.
Many of those in attendance said as such an influential institution, it’s crucial that BU continues to work on projects that combat climate change.
One audience member who provided feedback during the forum was Emily Barbo, communications specialist for the School of Public Health’s Activist Lab. Barbo said she believes the refinement of the Climate Action Plan is an important step for the university as a leader in climate activism.
“I believe that climate change is real and that it is an issue that Boston University should be at the forefront of,” Barbo said after the forum. “I believe that as an academic institution, it is our responsibility to be a leader, not only to other academic institutions but also within our neighborhoods and our city.”
Liam McParland, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he appreciated the open conversation between BU students and faculty about climate change.
“The Climate Action Plan is a great step for the university,” McParland said, “and I want to support it in any way that I can by providing feedback on matters such as this one.”
Masha Vernik, a CAS junior and member of Divest BU, said she is an advocate for divestment from fossil fuels, as well as for the university’s involvement in the prevention of the impedance of climate change.
“I am heavily invested in making sure that we have a better future for everyone,” Vernik said. “I think that mitigating climate change is one of the biggest challenges our generation will face, as well as the world as a whole, in the coming years.”
Janetos said the next discussion about the report with the Board of Trustees will take place in December.
