Pitt has a long history of implementing sustainable practices, believing that through investments in sustainability, there will be long-term positive impact on social, environmental, and economic patterns on campus, in the region, and around the world.

Pitt Sustainability Land Acknowledgment

We recognize that the University of Pittsburgh occupies the ancestral land of the Adena culture, Hopewell culture, and Monongahela peoples, who were later joined by refugees of other tribes (including the Delaware, Shawnee, and Haudenosaunee),driven here from their homelands by colonizers. We honor these traditional Native inhabitants of this place and uplift their historic, unique, and enduring relationship with this land, which is their ancestral territory.  We pay our respects to their Elders and their past, present, and future people, community, and culture.  While we cannot change the past, we commit to continued gratitude for the gifts of nature, along with ongoing respect, care, and stewardship of the land, each other, and future generations.

 

 

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2018-22 Progress Report on Pitt Sustainability Plan Cover_Page_001     University of Pittsburgh publishes the 2018-22 Progress Report on the Pitt Sustainability Plan recognizing our collective progress on each of the Pitt Sustainability Plan’s 68 distinct and ambitious goals.

The University of Pittsburgh releases its first “Pitt Climate Action Plan” charting a course to carbon neutrality by 2037.

The University’s Office of Finance released the “Inaugural Consolidated Endowment Fund Environmental, Social and Governance Report and publishes a summary of University ESG investing consideration and progress to-date.

The Pittsburgh campus is recognized a Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation for the first time.

University of Pittsburgh achieved its first AASHE STARS Gold designation in 2021.

Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels discloses that Pitt’s endowment will have no private fossil fuel investments and only 1% fossil fuel exposure (or less) by the end of 2035.

The University of Pittsburgh commits to becoming carbon neutral by 2037.

Pitt launches textile recycling for its Pittsburgh campus.

First “Pitt Sustainability Plan” is unveiled.

Office of Sustainability founded and University’s first Director of Sustainability hired to oversee Plan implementation.

Pitt achieved AASHE STARS Silver, Bike Friendly University Bronze, and became an EPA Green Power Partner.

 

Chancellor Gallagher creates the University of Pittsburgh’s first centralized “University Sustainability Committee” created to establish cross-functional representation across faculty, staff, and students across the University.

SOOS logoThe University of Pittsburgh’s Student Office of Sustainability is founded as an active contributor and voice in fostering awareness of sustainability throughout the Pitt community.

The University published its inaugural “Report on Sustainability” to highlight sustainability efforts and achievements across campus.
First Pitt Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory published, setting fiscal year 2008 as baseline year, along with emissions reductions goals. The GHG inventory has been updated for FY2011, 2014, 2017, & 2019; it will be updated annually moving forward.
Pitt’s University Senate issues a “Statement on Sustainability.”
University established the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, which now spearheads University-wide sustainability research and education programs.
University of Pittsburgh is one of the original signatories of the Talloires Declaration, which supports mobilizing the resources of higher education for sustainability.
The Taillores Declaration was a a “10-point action plan for colleges and universities committed to promoting education for sustainability and environmental literacy. The Declaration is a consensus statement originally authored by 31 university leaders and international environmental experts representing 15 nations from the global North and South. Those present signed the Declaration and proposed to disseminate the document for widespread endorsement.”