UN Sustainable Development Goals

Relevant Targets:
Build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social, and environmental shocks and disasters (1.5)

Application to CAP:
As Vassar expands its public-facing efforts in sustainability and works to build campus and community resilience to climate change, finding ways to invest in the community, especially those in greatest need, is vital. For example, investing in energy efficiency retrofits in the community could become part of Vassar’s carbon reduction plan in place of only purchasing external carbon offsets.

Relevant Targets:
Double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers (2.3); ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding, and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality (2.4)

Application to CAP:
When refining and updating its procurement strategy for campus dining, Vassar should focus on how it can best support local and sustainable food producers in alignment with this SDG and best practices for sustainable dining[iv].

Relevant Targets:
Substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination (3.9)

Application to CAP:
Reducing total combustion on campus, both through electrification of heating systems and migration to electric vehicles, will improve local air quality. The Green Procurement Guidelines will also examine ways that the products Vassar consumes can have lower pollution as part of their life cycle emissions.

Relevant Targets:
Ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development (4.7)

Application to CAP:
Assessing sustainability in the curriculum as proposed will provide a valuable foundation for all future efforts to support this SDG.

Relevant Targets:
No specific SDG targets explicitly align with actions proposed in the 2020 Climate Action Plan.

Application to CAP:
While the 2020 Climate Action Plan does not directly impact any of the targets associated with SDG 5, existing coursework and research likely do. During the assessment of sustainability in the curriculum, Vassar should evaluates if this SDG is sufficiently examined. If not, this may be an area for growth.

Relevant Target:
Protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers, and lakes (6.6)

Application to CAP:
Sustainable land management strategies may improve water quality. One possible indicator would be to measure water quality at creeks, ponds, or lakes on Vassar land over time. Measurements should be taken near landscaped areas and the golf course, for example, along the creek between Skating Pond and Sunset Lake.

Relevant Targets:
Increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix (7.2); Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency (7.3)

Application to CAP:
The Near-Term Decarbonization Plan will substantially increase Vassar’s energy efficiency and renewable electricity consumption. The proposed Energy Dashboard will track and report on-campus energy consumption and sources, including data on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and investment in clean energy technologies.

Relevant Target:
Improve progressively global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead (8.4)

Application to CAP:
The Green Purchasing Guidelines will consider both the upstream and downstream environmental impacts of the goods and services purchased by Vassar.

Relevant Target:
Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes (9.4)

Application to CAP:
Migration to more sustainable on-campus heating and cooling systems and fleet electrification positively impacts this SDG.

Relevant Target:
Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status (10.2)

Application to CAP:
In addition to prioritizing environmentally responsible products and services, the Green Purchasing Guidelines should consider support for historically underutilized businesses to direct Vassar’s purchasing power toward those most in need in the nearby community.

Relevant Targets:
Provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities (11.7); Substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters (11.b)

Application to CAP:
The most substantial impacts on this SDG will be seen through Vassar’s work to promote campus and community resilience to the effects of climate change. Maintaining the Vassar Farm & Ecological Preserve as a resource for the community once it is safe to reopen is another way to support this SDG.

Relevant Targets:
Halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses (12.3); substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse (12.5)

Application to CAP:
Almost all of the goals and action steps proposed in Chapter 2 (Food, Procurement, & Waste) positively impact the targets for this SDG.

Relevant Target:
Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning (13.3)

Application to CAP:
Every Goal and Action Step in the 2020 Climate Action Plan in some way supports this SDG.

Relevant Target:
Prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution (14.1)

Application to CAP:
The most powerful way Vassar can address this SDG is through its waste reduction efforts – specifically, efforts to reduce total campus use of plastic. Depending on the outcomes seen from the implementation of the waste reduction Action Steps proposed in Chapter 2, the 2025 Climate Action Plan may need to have even more aggressive targets for plastic waste reduction.

Relevant Target:
Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species (15.5)

Application to CAP:
Development and implementation of the Restorative Land Management Guidelines proposed in Chapter 3 directly align with this SDG.

Relevant Targets:
No specific SDG targets align with actions proposed in the 2020 Climate Action Plan.

Application to CAP:
While the 2020 Climate Action Plan does not directly impact any of the targets associated with SDG 16, existing coursework and research likely does. During the assessment of sustainability in the curriculum, Vassar should evaluate if this SDG is sufficiently examined. If not, this may be an area for growth.

Additionally, much of the civic engagement work already conducted by Vassar addresses targets under this Goal. Additional work done to bolster campus and community resilience to climate change impacts will also engage with targets under this SDG.

Relevant Targets:
No specific SDG targets align with actions proposed in the 2020 Climate Action Plan.

Application to CAP:
While the 2020 Climate Action Plan does not directly impact any of the targets associated with SDG 17, existing coursework and research likely does. During the assessment of sustainability in the curriculum, Vassar should evaluate if this SDG is sufficiently examined. If not, this may be an area for growth.