Auraria campus 2019 greenhouse gas inventory
Date: 1/21/2020 - 5/15/2020
Auraria Campus FY2019 Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Action Game Plan
Student Researcher: Jackie Slocombe
Link to Capstone Poster
Link to Executive Summary
This capstone quantifies the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to activity on the Auraria Campus during Fiscal Year 2019 and provides high-level suggestions on how to approach their forthcoming Climate Action Plan. In 2008, the three academic institutions comprising the Auraria campus signed the American Colleges and University’s President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), pledging to reduce campus emissions 20% (below 2008 levels) by 2020, 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. However, a 2018 scientific reports from the IPCC suggest that more immediate and aggressive reductions are required to prevent catastrophic warming, and the State of Colorado has passed a law calling for statewide reductions of 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. The Auraria Sustainable Campus Program (ASCP)—the student-fee funded sustainability program on campus—is spearheading a campus-wide climate action planning process, set to commence this summer and conclude in December 2020 with a renewed commitment to science-based reduction targets. This GHG inventory will serve as the blueprint for those conversations.