The University Climate Change Coalition launched the Research for Policy Platform at their inaugural Summit on July 23rd, 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Platform is a joint research and development platform that will establish a unified set of principles and policies in order to directly support Higher Education Leaders in local, national, and international 1.5 degree-aligned climate policy engagement.
The Coalition will identify, monitor, and research the most urgent climate policy issues using the best available science. The Coalition’s work will be synthesized into actionable summaries and recommendations for university leaders. University leaders who endorse the platform will play an active role in shaping the platform’s research agenda, commit resources to conduct the research, and consider the recommendations the platform generates to influence the advancement of just and science-based climate policy.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on 1.5 degrees of warming (SR15) warned of severe consequences of a failure to prevent global warming exceeding 1.5°C. To limit temperature increase to 1.5°C, emissions need to halve by 2030, and drop to net-zero by 2050 for the best chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.
Transitioning towards a net-zero economy requires coordinated action across sectors and enabling policy frameworks. Universities are well positioned as anchor institutions to drive forward policy and goals at various levels of government that will help humanity address the current climate crisis in time.
The purpose of this platform is to help university leaders actively engage on policy issues, stay well-informed, and where appropriate leverage their influence in support of 1.5°C aligned climate policy. UC3 will accomplish this by (1) producing policy primers referencing reputable, peer-reviewed research; (2) science-based policy options and the related implications for colleges and universities and their respective communities; and (3) suggesting avenues for policy engagement at various levels of government, with campus communities, and societal partners as deemed appropriate by UC3 members, given their own political contexts.
Scroll below to learn more about related outcomes and resources in connection with the Platform.
Related Resources
The University Climate Change Coalition’s first policy topic of interest as indicated by the Ohio State University President Drake and supported by his colleagues is carbon pricing. UC3 convened subject matter experts from across North America to discuss higher education’s role in advancing carbon pricing. This preliminary brief includes a menu of options for college and university leaders who want to engage on this issue internally on their campuses or externally with cross-sector partners.