Climate Action Policy

The University at Buffalo (UB, university) recognizes the substantial challenge that climate change poses to the institution, region, state, country, and planet. In response, the university has committed to becoming climate neutral by 2030 and to taking an active leadership role in addressing this global challenge through education, research, campus operations, and community engagement.

UB’s Climate Action Plan is a roadmap of ten innovative, engaging, and digestible steps to increase climate action throughout the university and advance a path to carbon neutrality by 2030. The strategy is holistic, inclusive, engages the broader university community, and employs a triple bottom line approach as well as is consistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This Climate Action Policy describes the university’s commitment to climate action and sustainability across its core mission areas: teaching, research, operations, and public service. These commitments are advanced through UB’s Climate Action Plan, which serves as the operational roadmap organized around ten solutions and three integrative themes for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.

Climate change is one of the most urgent challenges facing the world today. Human-induced greenhouse gas emissions – primarily from fossil fuel combustion and land use – have accelerated global warming, with adverse impacts, including the increased frequency of extreme weather events, already being felt across the globe.

The university acknowledges its responsibility to contribute to climate solutions. As a public research university, it is uniquely positioned to lead by example – integrating climate action into academics, operations, research, and community partnerships. By placing climate action at the core of its sustainability strategy, the university aims to serve as a model for how institutions can address climate change effectively, equitably, and transparently.

In pursuit of its climate goals as stated in the Climate Action Plan, the university commits to the following guiding principles:

The university will implement a carbon pricing strategy designed to induce sustainable decision-making and drive meaningful progress toward a low-carbon future. Carbon pricing strategies will seek to leverage economic incentives to advance low carbon actions. 

The university will advance strategies designed to reduce emissions from its transportation sector, the single biggest source of emissions at UB today. This will be accomplished through encouraging active mobility, increased public/mass transit utilization, and electrifying vehicles (UB’s fleet as well as vehicles driven to UB by staff, faculty, and students). In furtherance of this strategy, the university commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality by transitioning to an all-electric fleet. In accordance with New York State (NYS) Executive Order No. 22  Leading By Example: Directing State Agencies to Adopt a Sustainability and Decarbonization Program and the NYS Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations, effective January 1, 2026, no new internal combustion engine vehicles may be purchased, with limited exceptions for extreme cost or safety-related needs. This policy applies to all university-owned and -leased vehicles. This transition will ultimately reduce the university’s carbon footprint and enhance campus safety through increased vehicle automation. 

The university will implement its Clean Energy Master Plan across all university-owned and university-managed buildings with the goal of decarbonizing all building energy use and  phasing out the use of natural gas across 200 buildings. Enactment of UB’s Clean Energy Master Plan will promote sustainable energy use and leverage zero-carbon technologies such as energy-efficient heat pumps, heat recovery, and geothermal wells powered by clean energy.

The university will seek to minimize waste generation and pollution through its Zero-Waste Strategic Plan to achieve 90% landfill diversion by 2030. To comply with the State University of New York (SUNY) Elimination of Single Use Plastics Policy, the university will ban the purchase and use of single use plastics. The university will also recycle all of its organics in accordance with the New York State (NYS) Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law. Additionally, and in accordance with NYS Executive Order 22 Embodied Carbon Guidance, the university will work to align its purchasing practices with its sustainability values and reduce scope 3 emissions. 

The university will seek to generate and purchase 100% of its electricity from renewable sources through direct onsite renewables (the university is one of the nation's largest on-campus producers of solar energy), offsite generation, Renewable Energy Certificates, and other best practices.

The university will evaluate and seek to improve its food systems to reduce their carbon impact, with a goal of cutting food-related carbon emissions through sustainable procurement. Additionally, the university and its Campus and Dining Shops partner will prioritize increasing local and NYS food procurement as required under NYS Executive Order 32: Sourcing Food From New York Farmers to support regional sustainability and resilience.

The university will seek to purchase high quality carbon credits with a strong additionality rating to assist in reaching carbon neutrality. These credits will act as a bridging strategy while decarbonization work takes place, thereby providing flexibility and impact during climate mitigation efforts.

The university will work with the University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc. to support its ongoing efforts to decarbonize its investment portfolio. 

The university will seek to leverage the latest available technologies and prioritize infrastructure upgrades, as funding allows, to reduce energy and water consumption across all its campuses.

The university will empower students, staff, and faculty to contribute to emission reductions through individual and collective action, sustainable behavior change, increased responsibility, and environmental stewardship.

The university will leverage its campuses as a living laboratory, integrating sustainability and climate action across the curriculum while also supporting experiential learning and research into the university’s decarbonization work. 

The university will prioritize equity and the needs of historically impacted communities, providing guidance to other climate action areas on how to approach new policies, infrastructure, engagement, and community programs through an equity lens (as reinforced in the NYS Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act).

To realize its climate action goals, the university must build a campus environment that is not only stable and adaptable, but resilient for generations to come. UB’s infrastructure and buildings need to be resilient in the face of stronger storms, heavier snow, increased wind, and larger swings in temperature. Ensuring that resiliency is embedded into UB’s climate action work will enhance success and reduce risk for the university.

To translate the guiding principles into practice, the university will pursue the following priorities:

• Maintain and regularly update a comprehensive Climate Action Plan that includes interim and long-term emissions targets, strategic initiatives, investment priorities, and transparent reporting mechanisms.
• Lead campus decarbonization efforts through implementation of the Clean Energy Master Plan while supporting the broader transformation of the energy system through strategic investments in renewable energy, smart grid technologies, and electrification of buildings and transport systems.
• Ensure that all new construction and renovation projects adhere to rigorous standards of low embodied carbon, climate resilience, energy efficiency, and sustainability.
• Continuously evaluate physical and transition risks associated with climate change and integrate these insights into strategic planning and operational decision-making.
• Maintain a comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory aligning with best practices and industry standards.
• Implement educational and awareness campaigns that empower students, faculty, and staff to take meaningful climate action in their spheres of influence through campus-wide collaboration.
• Foster collaboration across NYS – specifically with the higher education community, local governments, the not-for-profit and civic sector, non-governmental organizations, and industry partners – to advance climate-related research, policy development, and project implementation.
• Advance climate justice by ensuring that climate strategies actively address environmental inequities, while promoting inclusion and resilience for vulnerable populations.
• Pursue leadership in global sustainability and climate rankings to demonstrate the university’s progress, impact, and commitment to transparency.
• Communicate progress, challenges, and achievements regularly and with transparency.
• Establish coordination mechanisms to ensure alignment, consistency, and accountability across all university units in implementing this policy.

The University at Buffalo has long recognized the urgent challenge of climate change and its responsibility as a public research university to contribute to climate solutions. This policy furthers that commitment and the university’s Climate Action Plan, and is consistent with state, federal, and international laws, regulations, and agreements related to climate action and sustainability. 

This policy applies to the university and its operations.

Affiliated entities are encouraged to align their environmental and climate-related practices with the principles outlined in this policy, where applicable and to collaborate with UB in tracking and reporting emissions attributable to their operations.

Affiliated Entity or Affiliated Entities
Organization whose operations or emissions are functionally connected to the university, including but not limited to foundations, joint ventures, and externally managed facilities. For purposes of this policy, an entity is considered affiliated if its emissions or environmental impacts would not occur but for its relationship with the university.

Carbon Neutrality
A state where net greenhouse gas emissions are zero, achieved by reducing emissions as much as possible and offsetting remaining emissions through verified carbon credit projects.

Carbon Pricing
A financial strategy that assigns a cost to greenhouse gas emissions to incentivize reductions; this can include internal carbon pricing, carbon fees, or shadow pricing.

Circularity
A model that aims to minimize waste and make the most of resources by reusing, recycling, and regenerating materials and products.

Climate Action
Strategic efforts taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance climate resilience, and support a just transition to a low-carbon future; this includes mitigation, adaptation, education, and policy initiatives.

Climate Justice
An approach that ensures climate action addresses social and environmental inequities and promotes fairness, inclusion, and resilience for historically impacted populations.

Decarbonization
The process of directly reducing or eliminating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions resulting from university operations and human activity, particularly those associated with the burning of fossil fuels.

Electrification
The process of replacing technologies that use fossil fuels (e.g., gas heating, gasoline vehicles) with those powered by electricity from renewable sources.

Renewable Energy
Energy sourced from natural processes that are replenished constantly, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower; these sources emit little or no greenhouse gases.

Renewable Energy Certificate
Market-based instrument representing the property rights to the environmental, social, and non-power attributes. It acts as a tracking mechanism for clean energy consumption and helps finance renewable projects.

Resilience
The ability of systems—such as infrastructure, ecosystems, and communities—to withstand, adapt to, and recover from the adverse impacts of climate change.

Sustainability
The integration of environmental, social, and economic considerations to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The 17 global goals established by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing a shared framework for addressing global challenges including climate change, inequality, and environmental sustainability. UB works to integrate the SDGs across its academic, research, and operational activities.

Zero Waste
A goal to divert at least 90% of all waste from landfills and incineration through prevention, reuse, recycling, and composting strategies.

• Work with operational units (e.g., Facilities, Business Services, Parking and Transportation, Student Life, Campus Dining and Shops), academic departments, academic support units, affiliated entities, and the broader university community to implement this policy.
• Monitor progress.
• Report annually to the university’s governance bodies and community through the Climate Action Update.
• Facilitate collaboration across the university system to achieve the goals outlined in this policy and the Climate Action Plan.

• Work with UB Sustainability to implement this policy.
• Develop implementation procedures.