Harvard University

Climate

Climate change is a global threat that requires an urgent response. The Harvard community is taking a multi-faceted approach to addressing and reversing the effects of this crisis.

Making voters care about climate change

A professor and a marketing professional try a new tack in climate-change communications.

One threat, many actions

How the US Interior Department can act on climate right now

Joel Clement describes some immediate opportunities—and emphasize specific recommendations—to establish the Interior Department as a purposeful catalyst for a fair and just transition to clean energy, healthy ecosystems, and thriving communities.

Read the Belfer Center article

Greener groceries

A student startup estimates carbon footprint of foods on supermarket shelves.

Read the School of Engineering article

The intersection of disability and climate change

Master’s student David Liebmann works to build awareness of the elevated threat level of climate change for people with disabilities.

Read the School of Education article

Behind the scenes of "Ocean Filibuster"

Creators Katie Pearl and Lisa D’Amour, composer Sxip Shirey, and performer Jennifer Kidwell talk about the development process for their new music theater experience commissioned by A.R.T. through a collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

Watch the American Repertory Theater video

Protecting Virginia's eastern shore from devastating sea rise

Is continued human settlement of a coastal area poised for such extreme and potentially devastating change truly worth fighting for? How can new land-use strategies enable the continued occupation of a region whose residents largely don’t believe in climate change?

Read the School of Design article

A new day for climate policy

Jody Freeman, the Archibald Cox Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and founder of the school’s Environmental and Energy Law Program, gives a hopeful outlook for the Biden Administration’s clean energy agenda.

Listen to the Environmental Economics podcast

Help from unexpected corners

Harvard Medical School geneticists turn to the problem of climate change.

Read the Medical School article

Recapturing the value of the world’s trash

Many countries are realizing they must work together to reduce waste by recovering, reusing, and remaking things—and the inspiration and technology to create such a “circular economy” already exists.

Read the Weatherhead Center article

Climate champions

Students, scholars, and leaders throughout the Harvard community who are confronting climate change and all its effects.

A black and white photo of a law professor

Wendy Jacobs

“No single professional discipline can tackle climate change in isolation; collaboration is critical,” said the Emmett Clinical Professor of Environmental Law and developer of the groundbreaking Climate Solutions Living Lab, who we lost earlier this year.

Raymond Song

“China’s climate and energy issues have always been at the heart of my passion for the environment. The opportunity to contribute to this research project that spans over three decades is a dream come true,” said the Environmental Science and Public Policy concentrator.

Udit Gupta

“We need to be asking what’s greener, running applications on the device or in a data center,” said the Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at SEAS.

Dan McKanan

“… climate change cannot be addressed in isolation, but only in relation to the intersecting challenges of white supremacy, settler colonialism, heteropatriarchy, and so many structures of injustice that are both the age old and reinventing themselves every day,” said the Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association senior lecturer in divinity at Harvard Divinity School.

Hear more from Dan

A collage of photos of a Harvard student and deleware

A. R. Siders

“Being uncertain doesn’t mean that we can’t address [the effects of climate change],” said the College and Law School alum, who is now an assistant professor at Delaware University’s Disaster Research Center.

Learn more about A. R. Siders

Our progress

In April 2020, we pledged to set our endowment on a path to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from investments in its portfolio by 2050.

1st

U.S. higher education endowment to pledge net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from investments

This pledge was a first among U.S. higher education endowments and a natural extension of Harvard’s ongoing efforts—through its teaching, research, and operations—to accelerate the necessary transition to a fossil fuel-free economy. Read the report on early progress and engagement activities.

30%

reduction in greenhouse gas emissions

In addition, Harvard has outlined an ambitious goal to be fossil-fuel neutral by 2026 and fossil-fuel free by 2050. We’re also continuing to maintain the 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that we’ve already achieved.

The new SEC building with green fields surrounding it

136

LEED certified buildings

Harvard has 136 LEED certified buildings, more than any other higher ed institution.

20%

CO2 reduction with new Harvard Mail & Delivery Service vehicles

As of 2019, 30% of Harvard Mail & Delivery Services vehicles were equipped with XL Hybrid technology that provides a 25% MPG improvement on average and a 20% CO2 reduction.

11%

reduction in water use

Since 2006, the amount of trash produced in pounds-per-capita is down 32%, and water use overall is down 11%.

Follow Sustainable Harvard on Twitter and Instagram to learn more.

Progress report on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

To keep its promise to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its portfolio by 2050, the Harvard Corporation directed Harvard Management Company to give an early assessment of where its efforts and investments stand now.

View Article

New complex recognized as one of the world’s healthiest lab buildings

New lab complex will help Harvard progress toward its Sustainability Plan and achieve its goals to be fossil fuel-neutral by 2026 and fossil fuel-free by 2050.

View Article

Electric buses put Harvard on road to fossil fuel-free future

The University has invested in 100 percent electric buses, which hit the road this fall. The four buses will lower greenhouse gas emissions by more than 220,000 pounds annually.

View Article

Greener commutes

In 2019, 85% of Harvard Cambridge/Allston commuters and 81% of Harvard Longwood commuters used sustainable transportation options to get to work. Of those who commuted in 2019, 38% used public transit, 24% walked, and 15% biked.

View the Harvard Gazette gallery

Greener buildings

In 2015, we broke the record to become the most LEED-certified higher education institution in the world. Today, our 136 certified sites are resulting in reduced carbon emissions, greater energy and water efficiency, and higher quality indoor experiences for our on-campus community.

Read the Harvard Gazette article

Energy efficiency pays off

As the 2016 fiscal year concluded, leaders of our facilities team were pleased to report a significant savings in energy usage and utilities costs, down about 30 percent from the previous year.

Read the Harvard Art Museums article

Innovating new models

Between 2017-2018, a team at the Harvard Graduate School of Design transformed a 1940s house into an office space that is net-zero, producing more energy than it consumes. Today, HouseZero is a living lab for data collection and analysis and a model for our future.

Learn about HouseZero

Raising food standards

In 2019, Harvard developed new sustainable food standards to provide healthier options on campus and to reduce the climate impact of our food programs. Food accounts for more than 25% of greenhouse gas emissions globally and Harvard is prioritizing choices that will lead to a healthier, more sustainable future.

Learn more about the sustainable food program

Learn more

Explore these climate change primers to better understand the full scope of the issue and find out what you can do.

Climate@HKS

The digital hub for Harvard Kennedy School’s research, teaching, and engagement related to climate change.

Explore the Kennedy Schools resources

Harvard speaks on climate change

This video series features faculty from across our campus discussing the many dimensions of the climate challenge: from law, business, and public policy, to public health, design, the sciences and engineering, and the humanities.

Watch the Center for the Environment videos