Mehta Marketing is a global marketing firm, helping businesses expand while fueling the economy. The firm also publishes the blog Mehta Marketing Inc. designed to help consumers avoid scams in the renewables investing space. Mehta Marketing reviews the recently released goal of Pittsburgh University to have net zero carbon emissions in the very near future of 2037. Mehta Marketing reviews what this goal means for the university and surrounding community, what the impact will be, and what follows this achievement.
At the start of 2020, the University of Pittsburgh went public with its groundbreaking carbon neutrality goal. Its commitment to achieving climate neutrality in 2037 will coincide with the university’s 250th anniversary reviews Mehta Marketing.
It’ll also put Pitt 13 years ahead of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s deadline.
The University of Pittsburgh released its Pitt Climate Action Plan (Pitt CAP) in July of 2021 to unveil its core steps to reaching the lofty goal. With a comprehensive strategy that includes significant investment in clean energy, improved processes, and energy efficiency.
So far, Pitt is on track as it moves towards its 15-year goal—the university had reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 32% to 2020, and improved energy efficiency significantly across the campus buildings.
Mehta Marketing reviews what comes next…
Net Zero carbon emissions goal for Pittsburgh by 2037: Two years in the making
Mehta Marketing reviews the University of Pittsburgh’s Director of Sustainability, hailed Pitt’s commitment for creating a sense of urgency and putting the call out to other higher education providers. She also shone the spotlight on the sheer intensity of creating a plan of this magnitude.
“The Pitt CAP reflects two years of work by many community members. It lays out our institutional strategy for the community.” – Aurora Sharrard
Mehta Marketing reviews that Sharrard, who also chairs the school’s committee on sustainability, notes that through the Pitt CAP members of the community will know how to help—at grass roots level and through fundraising and campaign drives. “The Pitt CAP […] details how they can get involved.”
And why 2037, instead of the nationwide 2050 goal that many institutions are working towards? The year 2037 creates a “sense of urgency to address the climate emergency.”
Whatever the psychology behind the move, it worked. Mehta Marketing reviews that the committee created a think tank of Pitt students and faculty members to create both a university Master Plan and a Plan for Pitt, to craft an overall strategy that achieves far more than carbon neutrality at the Large City campus.
Net Zero carbon emissions goal for Pittsburgh by 2037: The Strategy
Mehta Marketing reviews that the University of Pittsburgh officially became only the ninth US higher education institution to commit to a net zero carbon footprint.
Following the release of the University of Pittsburgh’s 2021 Pitt Climate Action Plan, stakeholders were provided with a list of tangible actions to impact the climate crisis in its own backyard.
The Action Plan focuses on core strategic partnerships and targets to enhance the previous Sustainability Plan. Targets that include…
Leadership & Sustainability
The firm published recently in the Mehta Marketing Inc. blog that the University of Pittsburgh is one of a handful of schools with a dedicated student office for sustainability and sustainable practices. The office currently serves more than 25 affiliated student groups and organizations.
In addition to the student office and the Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Sustainability, Pitt also delivers an undergrad qualification in sustainability, the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, and—over at the Joseph M. Katz grad school—a center for Sustainable Business.
Speaking as a representative of the Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Sustainability, Aurora Sharrard noted the school’s historic moves towards sustainable practices in the past—including research on sustainable innovations and collaborations with key environmental groups across the US.
Shared Prosperity
What good is a robust system to achieve carbon neutrality without sharing it with the world. Sharrard acknowledges that the university will always need to do more—like engage across “the US and the world to ensure equitable access and opportunity.”
Mehta Marketing reviews that the focus for Pitt is on shared prosperity for all. Local community groups and Pitt’s advisory Council are adamant that there is no room for gatekeeping when it comes to improved sustainability practices.
Renewable Energy
The Mehta Marketing Inc. blog notes that one of Pitt’s most costly initiatives in the drive towards net zero carbon emissions for Pittsburgh by 2037 is purchasing a minimum of 50% of the campus’ electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.
Costly, but impressive.
The first of its buys is the Allegheny River hydroelectric power plant—which will launch in 2023.
Building and Infrastructure Efficiency
Hand in hand with the 50% renewable energy source’s goal is a 50% reduction in energy usage by 2030—for all 130 existing buildings—and an 80% reduction for new construction.
In a testament to Pitt’s ability to look ahead and work towards addressing the climate crisis, it has been operating its own steam plants since 2009. Mehta Marketing reviews that with more than a decade of reduced carbon emissions under its belt, the next step is to operate a wholly electric vehicle fleet and encourage shared transportation for faculty and students.
Here’s the clincher: if Pitt can achieve its Net Zero carbon emissions goal for Pittsburgh by 2037, it’ll mean an annual reduction equal to taking 45,000 cars off the road across the city.
