By Nolan Page
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect that this university started discussing the NextGen Energy program in 2018.
As the world reevaluates its sustainability commitments a decade after the Paris Agreement, the University of Maryland has made some achievements but still faces a long road ahead.
Guided by its Climate Action Plan—established in 2009 and on its third version— this university has set climate targets such as a fast-tracked carbon-neutrality deadline to a zero-emissions vehicle fleet. Such climate ambitions have grown in global popularity since United Nations members convened in 2015 to establish the Paris Agreement, a landmark international treaty to address climate change.
This university achieved carbon neutrality by Earth Day in April, much earlier than its initial goal of achieving neutrality by 2050. Carbon neutrality refers to canceling out any greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the amount already contributed in the atmosphere.
But Christoph Bertram, associate research professor at this university’s Center for Global Sustainability, suggests there’s more nuance to that achievement.
Pointing out this university’s fossil fuel-operated central energy plant that can be seen from his office window at Thurgood Marshall Hall, Bertram said he has concerns about the measurements of carbon-neutral offsets.
Bertram explained how some measurements fail to address the underlying emissions exacerbating climate change. While acknowledging the merits of offsets in canceling out unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions—like those from flights—he emphasized the importance of eliminating sources like power plants to reach global sustainability.
“Going forward, the main point needs to be how can we, as a university, really achieve bringing down our own emissions,” Bertram said.
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As part of its most recent Climate Action Plan 3.0, this university aims to establish a fossil fuel-free power plant by 2035.
The Central Energy Plant currently supplies most of the campus’s thermal and electricity demands. Power production accounts for 68 percent of this university’s direct greenhouse gas emissions.
To cut those emissions, this university started discussing its NextGen Energy Program in 2018. The program aims to halve the plant’s water requirements and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent by 2035. It also aims to update campus infrastructure to improve efficiency.
By that same deadline, this university also has ambitions of a zero-emissions vehicle fleet. A 2023 grant provided funds to electrify nearly 75 percent of the bus fleet, potentially by 2026.
This university is also encouraging individual electric vehicles on campus with discounted parking and by aiming to raise the number of on-campus charging stations to 125 by 2030.
Besides these university commitments, students have played an active role in sustainability efforts.
From 2011 to 2022, more than 20,000 first-semester students were educated on climate action, according to this university’s Climate Action Plan website. A 2022 report found 26 percent of this university’s courses cover aspects of sustainability.
Junior public policy major Sophia Stein is among the more than 300 students enrolled in the sustainability studies minor each year. Stein said this university is “taking meaningful steps to achieve sustainability goals.”
She commended this university’s integration of environmental goals in its messaging but said greater visibility for green initiatives could boost student engagement.
Stein also highlighted the important role universities play in the wider sustainability landscape—a role especially pertinent as international commitments fade.
“The university is a really important actor when it comes to setting a model for academia and higher education institutions around the country,” she said.
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An emphasis on broader impacts has been key to this university’s green transition.
According to this university’s Sustainability Grants website, about $800,000 in grant funding is available annually for sustainability research and initiatives. This university has also aided the Maryland Department of the Environment in developing energy-efficient technologies, according to this university’s Climate Action Plan website.
Alicia Zhao, a research manager at this university’s global sustainability center, also emphasized this university’s role as a non-federal actor.
Zhao said local entities like this university can still make a commitment to sustainable progress.
“The cities and the businesses and the universities can still pick up the slack and keep up the momentum, even if one actor is no longer able to do something,” she said.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated that a 2023 grant provided funds to electrify nearly 75 percent of the university’s vehicle fleet. This story has been updated to reflect that the 2023 grant provided funds to electrify 75 percent of the bus fleet.
