Second Nature is committed to accelerating climate action in, and through, higher education. We do this by mobilizing a diverse array of higher education institutions to act on bold climate commitments, to scale campus climate initiatives, and to create innovative climate solutions. We align, amplify, and bridge the sector’s efforts with other global leaders to advance urgent climate priorities.

Since its founding in 1993, Second Nature has played a critical role in mobilizing higher education to move the needle towards the goal of a sustainable society. We created and oversee the largest voluntary carbon neutrality commitment in any sector in the United States. Millions of students have passed through these schools and this history has placed Second Nature in a key leadership position working with higher education to advance sustainability. As a network of institutions of higher education and as a trusted advisor to senior leaders in higher education, Second Nature seeks to: 1. Strengthen Second Nature’s leadership network through enhancing, leveraging, and maturing the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. 2. Diversify and integrate Second Nature’s core commitments with robust supporting activities. 3. Catalyze collaborative partnerships across institutions and sectors. 4. Lead the creation of a cross-sector sustainability data and information exchange.

Our strategic plan is designed to get us closer to our vision of seeing higher education as a key catalyst for positive global change. This future is one that we shared with many in other sectors of society. We know that the collective action needed for significant social change takes leadership of the leaders in higher education and with help from partners, we think this change can be significantly realized in this critical moment in history. Some of our custom-designed programs: * Carbon Neutral Campuses & University Network Climate Performance Analysis * Renewable Energy & Financing of Climate Programming * Climate Resilience * Collaboration among Research Universities * Advocacy at the Global Level * National and State-level Policy Initiatives * Annual Higher Ed Climate Leadership Summit

With over a decade of climate action, the hundreds of active signatory campuses of the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments continue to lead the higher education sector in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and striving to meet the necessary goals laid out by climate scientists to avert the worst impacts of climate change. By collecting and publicly reporting on their progress, Second Nature plays a key role in learning on carbon reduction efforts from fuel switching and energy efficiency to renewable energy and carbon offset purchasing. This leadership, which began more than a decade ago, is ever more relevant today as we continue to demonstrate what’s necessary and possible. The Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments are designed to scale climate action beyond institutional boundaries and to facilitate collaboration with other sectors. Signatories are expanding beyond the footprint of their campuses, and are connecting with their local communities to collaborate on resilience planning. Through resilience building workshops, solutions-oriented partnerships, pilot models for carbon pricing and capacity assessment matrixes, higher education institutions are preparing with communities for the impacts of climate change.

Second Nature’s Climate Leadership Network engages with national and state policy issues and contributes to climate action conversations on the global stage. Leveraging the resources and reach of the higher education sector mobilizes action at the state, national, and international level, through partnerships and events. In order to further support climate action goals, our non-partisan Network is poised to support on-campus research and infrastructure improvements as well as broader policy and legislation on topics such as grid modernization, energy efficiency, clean transportation, and renewable energy. Drawing together the Network on key issues magnifies our impact for the future.