Welcome UC President Michael V. Drake!

Thank You for Helping Us, Help You, Accelerate Your Climate Action. 

The colleges and universities listed below are Climate Leadership Network signatories and/or University Climate Change Coalition (UC3) members that financially reaffirmed their commitment to climate action this month.  Second Nature is thankful for their financial support that allows us to offer the resources, relationships, credibility and knowledge to accelerate climate action in, and leverage the strengths of, colleges and universities.  

PA Higher Ed Students & Municipalities Taking Climate Action

Students in this year's program come from the following Pennsylvania higher education institutions: Allegheny College, Bucknell University, Dickinson College, Drexel University, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Muhlenberg College, Penn State University, Shippensburg University, Susquehanna University, Temple University, University of Pittsburgh and Wilkes University.  More...
 

Attn: Comms Teams - We Need to Hear From You!

Why?
Because sharing out the progress of the climate action you are doing on your campus, is a key part of our ability to support your work.     

Our Ask of You
To help us continue to do so in the best way possible, we have two requests: 

1. Please add the email address for Amanda Belles, Communications & Marketing Manager (abelles@secondnature.org) to your media advisory/press release lists so that we receive your media advisories/press releases.  This will allow us to be better aware of work that your school is doing when it relates to your climate action progress and accomplishments; and we can then help highlight them.  
2. Please complete a VERY SHORT questionnaire (someone from your sustainability team or your communications office), which will help us know who the correct communications contact on your campus is for us to be working with. 

We appreciate your input in advance, and please do not hesitate to reach-out to Amanda Belles if you have any questions.  

If you have already completed the questionnaire, please ignore this request!

NE4OSW Coalition Has Launched!

On Wednesday, August 26th, New England for Offshore Wind - a coalition of entities from many diverse sectors - launched.  The coalition will work collaboratively to fight climate change through "responsibly developed offshore wind."  Second Nature is excited and proud to be a campaign partner, representing higher education along with our Climate Leadership Network institutions - Tufts University, Bristol Community College and University of Massachusetts Amherst!

Graphic Credit: NE4OSW

Race to Zero Campaign

On World Environment Day 2020, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Action (UNFCC) launched Race to Zero; a global campaign for a healthy, resilient and Fair, Zero Carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.

Those who have already signed onto the campaign include businesses, cities, regions, higher education institutions, investors and 120 countries.  

All members have committed to the same overarching global goal to be carbon neutral by 2050.  The objective of the campaign is to accelerate momentum leading up to COP26.    

There are four criteria to be a part of this campaign: 
1.  As a leader at your institution, pledge that your campus will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest. 
2.  Prior to COP26, have a detailed plan in place explaining how your school will accomplish your carbon neutrality goal.  
3.  Proceed with your climate action plan (i.e. put your plan into action!). 
4.  Submit and publish your progress annually via the Second Nature Reporting Platform.  
 

Ready to join this global campaign? 

Photo: Race to Zero

*NEW* Resource: Investing in Racial Equity

Last week, the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) who is a Second Nature partner, published a primer called, "Investing in Racial Equity: A Primer for College & University Endowments."  If you're an institution interested in learning about how your campus can INVEST in students of color in addition to educating students of color, we encourage you to check-out this primer.  

Webinar: Toward Carbon Neutrality in Higher Education: Cost-Effective, Actionable Pathways to a Net-Zero Future

Thursday, September 24, 2020 | 3-4:30PM EDT

Many campuses are considering the electrification of heating as a decarbonization pathway. Today’s status quo for heating – energy distributed through high-temperature networks – not only is over-designed and costly to maintain but also is basically incompatible with the low-carbon economy. Electrification is a proven route to enable lower-carbon buildings, led by heat pump strategies. Join us for this webinar to learn more. 

Panelists:
- Ruth Bennett, Director of Strategic Capital Programs, Tufts University
- Bert Bland, Associate Vice President for Energy and Sustainability, Cornell University
- JP Drouin, Project Development Director, Ecosystem Energy Services

Comments:
- Catherine Loubier, Delegate General of Québec in New York
- Marie-Claude Francoeur, Québec Delegate to New England

Opportunity: Want to Electrify Your Fleet?

Second Nature has partnered with the Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative as they seek to expand their cohort of colleges and universities making the transition to Electric Vehicle (EV) fleets. Whether you are looking to purchase your first EV or making the switch across your entire fleet, this unprecedented collaborative can help you accelerate the transition to electric vehicle fleets by helping to remove common barriers to purchase.

For more information on the Collaborative and how to join, please see our recent webinar with representatives from UCLA Fleet Procurement, Climate Mayors, and the Electrification Coalition and/or contact Sarah Reed (sreed@electrificationcoalition.org).

Thank You Summer Interns!

As many of you know, Second Nature is a small and nimble organization that works to support climate action in higher education.  We're thrilled to acknowledge our summer 2020 interns who came on board (virtually) this summer and helped advance our capacity and our efforts.  You'll see their work in upcoming resources. 

Thank You Carmiya, Jill, and Alyssa for your help this summer, and we wish you the utmost success with your Fall semesters!

Thank you Batrisyia for all of your amazing and continued work!

Starting in this month's Implementer, we're going to be sharing some fun facts and information about the Second Nature team in every Implementer!  We see this as a fun way for you to get to know your Second Nature team more!  As we're trying this out, let us know what you think; should we keep doing this? Are there questions you have for our team? Let us know! communications@secondnature.org 

This month, we want to introduce you to some of our pets!