Climate Change

In a campaign to reduce global warming, Loyola Marymount University joined more than 400 colleges and universities on Oct. 17, 2007, when President Robert B. Lawton, S.J., signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.

This commitment is a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and to accelerate the research and efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate.

The college and university presidents and chancellors who joined and are leading the commitment believe that exerting leadership in addressing climate change will stabilize and reduce their long-term energy costs, recruit excellent students and faculty, attract new sources of funding and increase the support of alumni and local communities.

Various measures will be taken by the participating institutions, such as completing an emissions inventory and integrating sustainability into the curriculum and making it part of the educational experience. The contract demonstrates LMU’s commitment to eliminate its greenhouse gas emissions over time. This involves:

• Completing an emissions inventory.
• Within two years, setting a target date and interim milestones to become climate neutral.
• Taking immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by choosing from a list of short-term actions.
• Integrating sustainability into the curriculum and making it part of the educational experience.
• Making the action plan, inventory and progress reports publicly available.

By joining other schools in this commitment, LMU will meet its social mandate to help create an ethical community for students and provide them with the knowledge to address the affects of global warming.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory

In keeping with this commitment to combat global warming, LMU is finishing its GHG emissions inventory which will be made publicly available shortly and posted here. The inventory is the culmination of a three-step process: collect data, calculate emissions, and analyze and report. Major emission source categories are on-campus energy production, purchased electricity, transportation, waste, and refrigerants. Each of these associated emissions is then converted into CO2 equivalents for analysis.

Once the GHG emissions inventory is completed, LMU will properly assess its GHG 'footprint' and begin to set targets and a timeline for emissions reductions. These steps will formalize LMU's institutional commitment to taking action on climate change, provide a tangible goal and mechanism for community involvement and introduce a level of accountability.

LMU is committed to completing its Climate Action Plan by September 2009. This institutional action plan will set targets for goals and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expand sustainability across the curriculum and the campus, and detail mechanisms for tracking progress on goals and actions.