"Sustainability," was defined as “development which implies meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”as defined by the 1983 Brundtland Commission (formally the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)). As sustainability gains support and momentum worldwide, universities across the United States have expanded initiatives towards more sustainable campuses, commitments, academic offerings, and student engagement.
In the past several decades, drastic changes in higher education administration, resource efficiency, food, recycling, and student projects have sprung up in colleges and universities of all types and sizes. In the U.S., the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) serves as the primary professional organization and resource hub for these universities.
Specific to climate action, the 2007 American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) was a very visible effort for colleges and universities to collaboratively address global climate change by making institutional commitments to reduce net campus greenhouse gas emissions and promote the research and educational efforts of higher education to prepare society to re-stabilize the earth's climate. Today, the ACUPCC lives on in Second Nature's Presidents' Leadership Climate Commitments and the Climate Leadership Network.
There were many early leaders in college and university sustainability efforts, including:
Oberlin College in Ohio had the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certified music facility and Carnegie Mellon University had the first LEED dorm (Silver). Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut pledged that all new buildings would meet these same Gold standards. Princeton and Ohio University have both made strides toward cutting yearly carbon emissions on campus. Florida Gulf Coast University has implemented solar energy throughout various buildings. A number of universities across the U.S. have created bicycle rental stations for students and employees to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobile traffic while helping reduce roadway congestion as well.
College and university sustainability efforts can provide these higher education institutions moral and ethical fulfillment alongside financial, environmental, social, and community benefits. Likewise, these universities are responsible for training future generations in sustainable practice, with an increasing number of formal certificate, minor, and major offerings. By providing undergraduate and graduate students more options focused at the nexus of equity, environment, and economics, higher education is providing more systems thinking and approaches as part of the educational and campus experience, helping ensure the responsible stewardship of land, resources, and communities for generations to come.
2022 study has concluded that universities can play a key role in regional and global agendas with their contribution through the incorporation of sustainability strategies, since universities "can not only achieve carbon neutrality, but they can help other organisations by delivering graduates who are aware of sustainability and provide specific training towards building a sustainability culture."
Climate change
It has been evident that climate change has become the main focus in the pursuit of sustainable solutions. As more evidence grows on the significant changes in the weather patterns in the past few decades and the impacts it has on disrupting human and natural systems far more quickly than what has been predicted, actions need to be made in order to maintain efforts in eliminating greenhouse gas emissions. With the lack of help from the government in reinforcing policies to further reduce these emissions, colleges and universities have taken it upon themselves to sustain this world through efforts around their own campuses.