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.
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.
The 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.
