The climate crisis is considered the most important challenge of our times. In the context of the Paris Agreement, Colombia has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 51% by 2030, involving all sectors of society. Higher Education Institutions have a dual responsibility in these efforts: not only in educating new professionals to study and analyze climate change and other planetary boundaries but also in managing (calculating, mitigating, and compensating for) their organizational carbon footprint. However, there are few universities in the Latin American and Caribbean context that have certified their campuses as carbon neutral. This chapter presents the experience of the Universidad Catolica de Manizales (Colombia) in the process of carbon-neutral certification. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol was the methodology used for the inventory of GHG emissions for the base year 2022. The results highlight that natural gas consumption, electricity usage, and air travel are the activities with the highest GHG emissions. The GHG management plan outlines activities in the short, medium, and long term to reduce emissions. Finally, various compensation projects were analyzed in the Colombian context. It is expected that this process will contribute to promoting climate actions in the university community and become a reference for university social responsibility in the Anthropocene era.

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Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Climate Actions: Carbon Neutral Campus Certification at Universidad Catolica de Manizales, Colombia

  • Daniel Felipe Rivera-Huertas,
  • Paola Andrea Calderón-Cuartas,
  • Adriana Sastoque-Hortúa,
  • Javier M. Naranjo

摘要

The climate crisis is considered the most important challenge of our times. In the context of the Paris Agreement, Colombia has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 51% by 2030, involving all sectors of society. Higher Education Institutions have a dual responsibility in these efforts: not only in educating new professionals to study and analyze climate change and other planetary boundaries but also in managing (calculating, mitigating, and compensating for) their organizational carbon footprint. However, there are few universities in the Latin American and Caribbean context that have certified their campuses as carbon neutral. This chapter presents the experience of the Universidad Catolica de Manizales (Colombia) in the process of carbon-neutral certification. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol was the methodology used for the inventory of GHG emissions for the base year 2022. The results highlight that natural gas consumption, electricity usage, and air travel are the activities with the highest GHG emissions. The GHG management plan outlines activities in the short, medium, and long term to reduce emissions. Finally, various compensation projects were analyzed in the Colombian context. It is expected that this process will contribute to promoting climate actions in the university community and become a reference for university social responsibility in the Anthropocene era.