University of British Columbia President Stephen Toope applauds major commitments in sustainability made by some of the world’s most influential universities at the G8 University Summit this week.
Prof. Toope and Indira Samarasekera, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Alberta, represented Canada in the first meeting of its kind among university presidents from G8 countries in advance of the G8 Hokkaido Summit next week. The meeting took place June 29-July 1 in Sapporo, Hokkaido and was chaired by University of Tokyo President Hiroshi Komiyama.
Presidents, vice-chancellors and rectors representing 28 universities from G8 countries, including the University of Cambridge, UCLA, Yale, Peking University, Université Paris-Sorbonne, The University of Tokyo and Lomonosov Moscow State University signed the Sapporo Sustainability Declaration (see: http://g8u-summit.jp/english/)
The declaration emphasizes research institutions’ vital role in sharing knowledge and serving as leading models to advance sustainability worldwide. It calls for universities to working collaboratively with governments, surrounding communities and each other to synergize research, policy and public programs and commits them to establishing a new international network capable of addressing the broad and complex range of sustainability issues.
The declaration also calls on G8 leaders to recognize the contributions of universities to solving the most pressing issues facing the global community today, to adopt an effective framework for implementing scientifically appropriate countermeasures, and to pursue partnerships in implementing sustainability initiatives.
“UBC has long been a leader in Canada in sustainability research and practice,” says Prof. Toope, who shared with delegates UBC’s efforts in achieving its Kyoto Protocol targets ahead of schedule.
“We are thrilled to play a part in engaging the brightest minds in the world to ensure the long-term prosperity of our planet.”
Highlights of UBC’s sustainability efforts include:
- In 1997, UBC became Canada’s first university to adopt a sustainable development policy, a year later, it became the country’s first university to open a campus Sustainability Office.
- In 2003, 2005 and 2006, UBC was Canada’s first and only university to receive Green Campus Recognition from the U.S.-based National Wildlife Federation.
- Through programs such as Ecotrek and U-Pass, UBC’s Vancouver campus surpasses Canada’s 2012 Kyoto Protocol targets, having reduced over the past 16 years greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent in 2006.
- In 2007, UBC added 21 targets to the initial 68 in the sustainability strategy, representing commitments made by UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, British Columbia. The first progress report against the initial strategy was also published.
- UBC currently offers more than 300 sustainability-related courses.
(For more on sustainability at UBC, visit: www.sustain.ubc.ca)
At the summit, The Rector of the Politecnico di Torino announced that Italy, the host nation for the next G8 Summit, would also host a University Summit. Prof. Toope welcomed this proposal and promised to work with the Italians in planning the Summit and ensuring that its results would be carried forward when Canada hosted the G8 Summit the following year.
– 30 –
