To address climate change and to achieve Yale’s greenhouse gas reduction commitment, the greater Yale community promotes many initiatives on local and global scales.  From undergraduate student groups to interdisciplinary professional school centers, the Yale community leads with innovative climate change research and mitigation strategies. Explore many of Yale’s most prominent initiatives below:

• Campus-Wide Initiatives
• Undergraduate Initiatives
• Interdisciplinary Professional Centers 

For more a more comprehensive listing of climate change initiatives at Yale, please visit: http://www.climate.yale.edu/

ZIPCAR AT YALE

Yale University has partnered with Zipcar to bring easily accessible rental cars to campus.  Twenty-five percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are produced by vehicles.  In order to reduce this impact around campus, the University offers a number of alternative transportation options.  The Zipcar program now includes 14 cars in 7 locations across campus.  All students and staff, 18 years old or older are eligible to join.  To find a car near you, visit the Yale Zipcar map.

The Sustainability Leaders Program is comprised of volunteer individuals from many departments around campus.  These volunteers spend time educating their coworkers in sustainable office around campus. 

In an effort to help the University reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, leaders participating in this program promote energy saving behavior in their departments.  To learn more about how you can save energy in your department check out the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s tips for reducing office greenhouse gas emissions

The Student Taskforce for Environmental Partnership (STEP) is a student-run program that seeks to educate students in environmentally responsible daily practices and promote sustainability across campus.  Programs run by STEP focus on energy efficiency and green house gas emission reduction.  STEP has run several successful campus-wide programs targeted toward undergraduates, including Light4Light and Project Lux.

The Yale Student Environmental Coalition (YSEC) is a non-profit student organization that seeks to encourage sustainable practices on campus and promote environmental protection locally and globally.  YSEC works toward many environmental goals for the university community.  In 2005 the organization was a key participant in discussions to help the University set its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy . 

YSEC also creates connections between the university community and the greater New Haven community, by running an educational program in New Haven schools to teach 5th grader students about global warming.

A joint effort between the School of Forestry & Environmental Science and the Law School,

the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy is an interdisciplinary initiative that seeks to advance fresh thinking and analytically rigorous approaches to environmental decision-making – across disciplines, sectors, and boundaries.

To learn more about programs and initiatives at the Center that address climate change go to: http://envirocenter.research.yale.edu/programs

The Center for Business and the Environment is a joint initiative between the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the School of Management.  The Center promotes business solutions to environmental problems by supporting research, education and outreach.  Some of CBEY’s most recent programs and initiatives that address climate change include:

Carbon Finance Speakers Series

Renewable Energy and International Law Network

UN Global Compact Caring for Climate

The Yale Project on Climate Change seeks to: 1) elevate public discourse and engagement with climate change science and solutions, and 2) catalyze action by both the general public and leaders of government, business, academia, and the media through improved knowledge and understanding of climate change causes, impacts and solutions.

The Yale Project on Climate Change encourages public discourse and engagement on climate change by supporting ICLEI’s annual “National Conversation on Climate Change” This initiative helps citizens from across the nation organize face-to-face discussions to drive substantive, solutions-oriented dialogues about climate action opportunities at the local level.

YPCC Director, Anthony Leiserowitz, conducts research on public opinion, perception, and behavior on climate change.  Completed research reports include:

Climate Change in the American Mind

American Support for Local Action on Global Warming

The Yale Center for the Study of Globalization aims to enrich debate about globalization on campus and to promote the flow of ideas between Yale and the policy world. A major focus of the center is Climate Change.  The Center recognizes the global threat posed by climate change and the need for international cooperation to address the problem.  Two recent events sponsored by the center included:

The Economics of Climate Change

Global Warming: Looking Beyond Kyoto

The Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies supports environmental studies for undergraduates, as well as education for the greater community.  The Institute hosts many conferences and events that address various aspects

of climate change, including research and mitigation.  Recent forums addressed solar variability and climate change, the ocean and climate, and the “greening” of Yale.  To learn more about upcoming events go to

 http://www.yale.edu/yibs/index.html

For more a more comprehensive listing of climate change initiatives at Yale, please visit: http://www.climate.yale.edu/