Smith College this month unveiled an impressive blueprint for action on climate change that other academic institutions can use as a model.
A 16-member study group, which was convened in 2015, issued 21 recommendations that touch on all aspects of Smith’s campus in Northampton — from an interdisciplinary approach to teaching about climate change, to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent during the next five years, to changes in its investment policies.
The 36-page report titled “Toward a Sustainable Future” states that “Smith College and its community acknowledge some responsibility for the state of the climate and share a moral responsibility to be part of the solution. … Collectively, humanists, social and natural scientists and engineers have much to offer toward mitigating the causes and ill effects of climate change, recognizing and redressing climate injustices, strengthening the resiliency of communities and innovating environmentally-sound solutions aimed toward creating a sustainable and just society for all.”
Some of the recommendations will have an immediate impact, for example, as the college puts a priority on expertise in climate change and sustainability as it hires faculty in all disciplines. Others, such as examining divestment from fossil fuel holdings, will take longer to achieve.
Smith’s comprehensive approach in addressing the “abrupt, unpredictable, highly damaging and potentially irreversible impacts” of climate change is commendable.