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Following Thursday’s announcement that a new set of sustainability goals from Syracuse University and the Student Association would move up SU’s net-zero carbon emissions target date by eight years, SA is determined to secure opportunities for the campus community to be directly involved in hastening progress toward carbon neutrality.

Aside from advancing its net-zero emissions target year from 2040 to 2032, the university’s new goals include creating a Sustainability Oversight Council to supervise the Sustainability Management office, reducing single-use plastics by the 2027-28 academic year and creating an annual sustainability research competition. The agreement for the new goals comes after SA’s December 2022 sustainability report and a referendum in its Spring 2023 election which called on SU to move the net-zero date to 2030.

SA President David Bruen said it’s uncommon for student governments to play such a major role in changing significant university policies like these. Accomplishments like the new sustainability goals specifically are rare, especially at private universities, he said.

“This is not only one of the most significant things that the student government has ever done at this university, but it’s one of the most significant things the student government has done ever at any university, period,” Bruen said.

Bruen has been working alongside other SA leaders to improve SU’s sustainability efforts from the time he ran for his first term. In 2021, Bruen and then-running mate Darnelle Stinfort proposed the Green New Deal for Syracuse University, which urged the university to go carbon-neutral by 2026, increase its use of carbon offsets and maintain carbon emissions reductions via renewable energy-related credits.

After SA’s December 2022 sustainability report urged SU to shift its target date to 2030, its Spring 2023 election carbon neutrality referendum passed with nearly 93% of voting students’ support. Ultimately, the university and SA agreed upon an eight-year reduction to 2032.

“That doesn’t mean that we won’t get there earlier, but that’s where we’ve landed, and … what comes with that is a lot of time, talent and treasure to go towards realizing this goal,” Bruen said.

Reducing the date by eight years is a historic accomplishment that puts SU at “the front of the pack” compared to peer institutions in New York and nationwide, Bruen said. He noted that the only university that has actually accomplished its carbon neutrality goal is American University, which invested tremendously to reach its goal by 2018, he said.

The Sustainability Oversight Council, with university and SA representation, will function to ensure the university cuts its emissions strategically and drastically to stay on track with its goal, Bruen said. He said he expects the council’s SA representative will be a member of the association’s executive leadership, but could later be filled by a sustainability director in the future.

For the phased approach to reducing plastic, Bruen said students can expect to see an elimination of plastic bags in the Schine Student Center and less plastic in vending machines on campus. Transitioning away from plastics is vital to changing the sustainability culture of the university, he said.

“It’s about making that lifestyle change that’ll change people’s mindsets gradually, and make us realize we don’t have to rely on these things, we don’t have to be dependent on them,” Bruen said.

Bruen also emphasized the role of a sustainability research competition as a way to incentivize sustainability in an academic capacity. Students and faculty will have the opportunity to submit ideas for carbon emissions reduction steps for the university to consider for implementation. Bruen added that through the competition, SU community members can see their sustainability ideas carried out on-campus.

Through these new goals, Bruen said he hopes students will see SA’s influence on campus. He pointed to other times in SU’s history in which SA played a major role, including alumna Gov. Kathy Hochul’s work as a vice president and Board of Trustees representative as well as SA’s contributions to the Vietnam War protests.

“This is a major historic achievement, and it was really in large part done by students,” Bruen said.

Published on April 17, 2023 at 1:25 am

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu