U. sustainability globally recognized

Penn is pruning its sustainable practices to match up with global peers.

Last month, University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann traveled to Davos, Switzerland, to report on the progress of the Climate Action Plan — Penn’s plan to reduce its carbon footprint and improve sustainability.

Penn’s commitment to international standards of sustainable development was formalized at the World Economic Forum last year, when it became one of 28 colleges and universities to sign the Sustainable Campus Charter.

At the Jan. 28 WEF meeting, about half of the signatories of the Charter presented draft reports on their progress in the past year according to the principles laid out by the Charter, said Michele Petochi, Head of University Community at the World Economic Forum.

The meeting was “an opportunity for learning from our peers,” said Dan Garofalo, the University’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, as well as a way to “keep our momentum going” on instituting sustainable initiatives at Penn.

According to Garofalo, it was easy for Penn to follow the principles laid out by the Charter in its first year because they were “perfectly in line with what we were already doing,” with the Climate Action Plan.

In fact, meeting those principles was only a matter of “reorganizing how we had already proposed our Climate Action Plan goals and initiatives,” said Jen Rizzi, spokeswoman of Facilities and Real Estate Services.

The first principle of the Charter requires universities to implement sustainable development goals. Penn has worked along these lines to reduce energy use, build Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified buildings, and create pilot composting programs, Garofalo said.

The second principle outlines “behavioral and social goals,” Garofalo said, adding that Penn has worked to increase green spaces on campus and promote sustainable commuting options.

Penn matched the third principle of the Charter by “aligning the institution’s core mission with sustainability goals,” Garofalo added. The University has worked to communicate sustainable initiatives via social media outlets such as YouTube and Twitter. The Eco-Reps program is an added outreach effort.

College sophomore and Eco-Rep Francis Miller said the Charter does not directly influence his own commitment to sustainability at Penn.

The Eco-Reps are primarily focused on “trying to increase activity among the student body and raising awareness and participation” in green initiatives, “as opposed to following a specific charter,” Miller said.

However, Miller does see a benefit in sharing ideas to promote environmental awareness across universities and colleges. He said that sometimes, Eco-Reps present ideas they got from other schools in their meetings, and then implement them on campus.

Garofalo added that Penn’s Eco-Reps program was inspired by programs already in place at other schools.

Penn’s report at the WEF is important since colleges are “laboratories for sustainable development,” making them role models to help expand these practices around the world, Petochi said.

Information on the performance of all signatories will be publicly disclosed over the coming months, according to a statement released by the World Economic Forum.

Petochi added that there will be another update from Charter signatories a year from now.

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