For the last few weeks, banners displaying “Climate Neutral 2025″ and “Zero Waste 2028″ have been seen all around campus as part of Green Week, the University of Southern California’s annual week-long celebration of the university’s sustainability efforts. These goals are some of the top priorities listed under Assignment: Earth, USC’s sustainability framework.
The terms “carbon neutral” and “climate neutral” have sometimes been used interchangeably by the university. In 2021, President Carol Folt first announced the goal, saying that “USC [was] setting an aggressive timeline to achieve carbon neutrality in a short amount of time.”
Campus officials Zelinda Welch, Director of Energy and Sustainability at USC Facilities and Planning Management, and Michael “Mick” Dalrymple, Chief Sustainability Officer, confirmed in interviews with Annenberg Media that the university aims to be “climate neutral” by 2025.
This means the university will reach net-zero emissions for all greenhouse gases, like nitrogen and methane — not just carbon. Net-zero means the emissions of gases into the atmosphere matches the reduction of gases from the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases play the largest role in rising global temperatures, so a large campus like USC reaching net-zero emissions has a big impact.
“Neutrality” does not equal no emissions
USC’s goal of climate neutrality by 2025 is ambitious compared to institutions of similar size. The University of California campuses have set target dates of 2045.
USC has been transparent about its progress through a public dashboard on the Assignment: Earth website.
When looking at the measurements for climate neutrality, the scale showing 43% progress towards this goal may be surprising to some, considering the fast-approaching deadline.
Dalrymple, who was chosen as USC’s first-ever chief sustainability officer in 2021, did not shy away from sharing that the university is only halfway to meeting its goal, because the university plans to fast-track the rest of the way to climate neutrality.
“We get as far as we can by 2025 and then we will buy offsets to get to 100 percent,” said Dalrymple.
Carbon offsets are actions taken to absorb carbon dioxide. For example, the university could pay a company to plant new trees in a forest or cap abandoned gas wells leaking methane, as a way to balance out USC’s carbon emissions.
Some climate activists have debated the moral implications of offsets, arguing that offsets incentivize institutions to keep polluting because they can turn around and compensate the environment after. But, to Dalrymple, “The planet doesn’t care where the emissions come from, because it’s a global atmosphere. The planet just cares that we reduce the overall emissions.”
In 2024, offsets are one of the only realistic ways a campus like USC can become fully climate neutral. “USC cannot achieve its ambitious goal of climate neutrality by 2025 without utilizing carbon offsets,” said the university’s task force on Carbon Removal and Offsets in a report.
Welch and Dalrymple share that offsets are a last resort for the campus, rather than the main method. “The idea is that over time, our need for offsets will diminish because we continue to make progress,” said Dalrymple.
Dalrymple says that the university is working with a carbon credit company, Calyx, to assess the limitations and benefits of USC’s carbon offsets.But, what does it take for a campus to no longer produce greenhouse gases?
The road to decarbonization
Tim Carter, president of Second Nature, says that large universities like USC have larger opportunities when it comes to sustainability, but also larger challenges due to their complex infrastructure, which might make it difficult to convert to carbon-free systems. Second Nature is a nonprofit that works with universities like the University of California schools and the University of Chicago on their climate leadership and sustainability efforts.
Welch shares that if the campus wanted to decarbonize its steam system and switch to hot water, that would require the replacement of pipes across campus, a project that would require a lot of manpower and a lot of money. Some of these infrastructure changes also may not make sense if equipment hasn’t reached its end of life, Welch said.
Carbon offsets can be done faster and cheaper than taking on these endeavors, which is why the university is using offsets to reach its 2025 neutrality goal.
According to Welch, the university has started a decarbonization planning group. The group is conducting an in-depth assessment of the university’s emissions and infrastructure, along with what technology would be best to implement for decarbonization.
But, full decarbonization takes time, “you’re probably looking at something like 15 to 20 years to make that complete transition. You want to do this in a thoughtful manner,” said Welch. This may be why the UCs have their carbon neutral goal set in 2045, so they can be fully decarbonized, not just climate neutral through offsets.
Carter says that an advantage established universities have is time. USC is the oldest private university in California, and it will likely be around for a while, so we will eventually see the return on investment for these environmentally friendly, yet costly, endeavors.
Some operations just aren’t carbon free yet, like carbon free air travel for sports teams. However, the university could still opt for more climate conscious flight options. This season, USC’s women’s volleyball will use private, chartered flights which can emit 4 to 15 times more emissions per passenger than commercial flights.
Although the campus won’t be fully decarbonized by 2025, Welch said, the climate neutral goal builds the kind of momentum needed for such a large infrastructure project.
USC’s sustainability student community
Carter, who has worked with university campuses across the country, says the most successful campuses he sees are those that mobilize everyone on campus, not just the sustainability office or facilities management. Students at the Sustainability Hub’s one year anniversary last week think that’s important too.
“I’m an environmental studies major who’s looking for a campus that kind of provides a culture of sustainability where everyone’s on board, everyone feels like they have a place. I think that’s really important to a campus” said Emma Rohrer, an outreach and engagement intern for the Sustainability Hub.
The Sustainability Hub is the physical space for Assignment: Earth. Its seats are green and its stickers have QR codes leading to maps of campus hydration stations. Even the hub’s business cards are made from seed paper, which once planted, grow into California wildflowers.
Dalrymple shares that the hub even has a biophilic design, making the space good for you, mentally and physically. The Hub has become home to multiple groups advocating for sustainability on campus.
“Using the Hub as a workspace and being in the Student Sustainability Committee have both given me a lot of sense of community and a real place to go on campus,” said Skylar Funk, graduate student co-chair of the committee.
Another trait of successful campuses, according to Carter, is the integration of sustainability into their overall university mission. “I think that it really takes more than just the office of sustainability and a few student groups to actually create meaningful change,” said Au Chung, community engagement coordinator of the Arts and Climate Collective at USC.
Some students, like Rohrer, find the university’s sustainability work empowering, “knowing that a campus is so engaged and involved in creating a healthier world for all is really motivating to do my work in environmental studies every day. I think it positively shapes the way people interact with each other.”
An ever-changing campus
Dalrymple says the university is working towards having an electric bus fleet and is currently developing a full plan for the transition, including funding options.
According to Welch, USC is also working on a solar master plan, which, similar to the decarbonization plan, is a comprehensive assessment to identify the best ways to install more solar panels around campus.
Funk says he’s proud to go to a school that walks the talk when it comes to sustainability, “there’s like a real impetus for action on sustainability that I didn’t see at my undergraduate university, that was as liberal and cool and ‘sustainable,’ but the real action is happening here.”
It’ll take some time, probably years, for the university to no longer need carbon offsets. But we will officially be a climate neutral campus in 2025, a celebration for the university and the environment.
Student environmental groups, along with groups like the task force on Carbon Reduction and Offsets, and hired third parties like Calyx, are watching the university’s sustainability moves, helping when and where they can and also holding USC accountable.
USC Chief Sustainability Officer Mick Dalrymple says, “We have a long way to go and the easiest stuff is probably done, it only gets harder. But we gotta do it.”