With this ranking, UofL celebrates another milestone in its Sustainability Initiatives program and reaffirms its commitment to going carbon neutral.

Sierra Magazine’s ranking comes on the heels of an documenting that the university has exceeded its 2020 goal and reduced carbon emissions by over 35%. In August, UofL President Neeli Bendapudi re-signed UofL’s Carbon Commitment, pledging that the university is working to become 100% carbon neutral by 2050.

“As we all are reminded how to be more energy efficient on Oct. 6 [Energy Efficiency Day], we also celebrate our continued success in being the most sustainable school in the commonwealth,” Bendapudi said. “We also see how much more work there is to do in order to reduce our university’s carbon footprint to zero by the year 2050. It’s a large task, but we know we have to do it and we will.”

“UofL is committed to integrating sustainability into everything we do, from how we manage our facilities, finances and people to what we teach in the classroom and what we research in the lab,” said Justin Mog, assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives. “At UofL, everyone has a role to play in making our university more sustainable and tackling the existential threat posed by the global climate crisis.”

Mog said students, faculty, staff and other friends of UofL can play many roles in supporting our Sustainability Initiatives.

“There are a myriad of ways people can help make UofL more sustainable, from individual actions to group activities, from pledging to fulfill your own personal sustainability commitment to donating to offset carbon emissions costs and funding our work at UofL,” Mog said.

Other Kentucky schools making Sierra Magazine’s list were the University of Kentucky at 252^nd; Western Kentucky University at 263^rd; and Eastern Kentucky University at 298^th.

The commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions started two years earlier, when then-President James Ramsey signed the . That action set in motion steps to ensure UofL would, like other institutions of higher education, steadily work to eliminate its contribution to global warming.

Today, the university is close to meeting its first benchmark: a 20-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The most recent annual report on GHG emissions shows that UofL’s net carbon emissions dropped more than 18 percent to 177,704 metric tons between 2008 and 2016. That is equivalent to taking more than 8,000 cars off the road or recycling almost 13,000 tons of waste.

“As part of the university’s , interim goals were set in place to keep us on track,” said Justin Mog, assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives, who issued the report. “UofL is now very close to meeting its 2020 goal of reducing net carbon emissions by 20 percent. Our students are making investments in their futures, and our university’s commitment to fighting climate change is tangible proof of our investment in the common future of our shared planet.”

Reductions in electricity use and fuel and paper consumption were responsible for most of the progress. Composting and planting/maintaining trees helped offset a small percentage of carbon emissions.

The is an estimate of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the activities of more than 30,000 students, faculty and staff, as well as the operation of nearly 8.5 million square feet of buildings on all three campuses – Belknap, Health Sciences Center and Shelby.

UofL became part of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2008 and soon developed a comprehensive estimate of total greenhouse gas emissions resulting from operations. This 2008 baseline estimate is what the university uses to evaluate progress.

The university’s , adopted in 2010, is the roadmap the university uses to achieve net climate neutrality by 2050 with interim goals for emissions reductions along the way. The goal for 2020 is a 20-percent reduction (since 2008); the goal for 2030 is a 40-percent reduction.

Making more investments in renewable energy, alternative transportation and carbon sequestration, as well as increases in tree planting, are among some of the ways UofL will further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Mog said.