DISRUPTION: Climate. Change.

A new film on the climate change movement will be released next week.  The trailer below gives a sneak peak of what looks like a powerful telling of the story of how the demands for action on climate change have coalesced into a social movement that recognizes this is a social justice issue, not just an environmental issue.

It's timed for release before what will be the largest climate march in history -- the People's Climate March -- taking place Sunday, September 21, in New York City (at 11:30, starting at Columbus Circle).

There will be a host of events and actions taking place in late September in NYC around the UN Climate Summit, which is an attempt to focus attention and engage as part of the run up to the pivotal climate negotiations in Paris in 2015.

It will be an interesting few months in the climate action world, and I'm curious to see how it will play out with the backdrop of mid-term elections and hurricane season here in the US.



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CARBON: New short film on pricing carbon

Here's a new short film, narrated and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio about the need to price carbon, and a run down on the national and regional efforts to do so.

It is the first in a 4-part series called Green World Rising.  Go to www.greenworldrising.org for more info, and to sign an open letter -- "Consensus for Action" -- to world leaders at the UN Climate Summit happening in September in New York to show your support for bold action on sustainability.

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Intentional Endowments

Over the past year, much of my work has focused on an emerging new project aimed at supporting colleges and universities to better-align their endowment investment practices with their mission and values. 

In April we held a summit in Boston -- the Intentionally Designed Endowment conference -- that brought together 120 leaders, including senior administrators from higher ed, endowment managers, investment firms, experts on sustainable investing and fiduciary responsibility, and non-profit executives.

The event was designed to create a highly-interactive, 'safe-space' to talk through the full range of issues and potential strategies for integrating sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria into endowment investment portfolios.

The fossil fuel divestment movement has been driven in large part by student leadership on college campuses. While many colleges have resisted calls to divest, it has opened up important conversations about if and how institutional mission and values should be incorporated into endowment investing policies and practices. At the same time, as the ESG / sustainable investing space has matured, it has become more common for investors to recognize that sustainability challenges can affect the value of companies and projects, and consequently pose material risks to their portfolios.

Given these complex and rapidly changing dynamics, participants of the event expressed a clear need for more forums like it, and other ways to continue the conversation and learning on these topics.  In response, we've been developing the Intentional Endowments Network.

Our website has presentations and videos from the conference, a resource library with reports and articles on key topics, and a news feed for relevant media coverage:

www.intentionalendowments.org

We are currently in the process of developing a strategic plan for this exciting new initiative, while at the same time developing tangible actions, including webinars, another Intentionally Designed Endowments conference in the Southwest, a student-focused conference, workshops and sessions at other conferences, new resources, and strategic engagements with individual institutions.

Please visit the website and share your thoughts.

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2014 HBCU Green Report

The second survey of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) -- the 2014 HBCU Green Report -- was recently released by the Building Green Initiative at Clark Atlanta University.

The report finds a "green revolution" is underway at HBCUs, despite the fact that these efforts are not sufficiently covered in mainstream higher education, sustainability, or media outlets.  Forty-three institutions participated in the survey that yielded the data for the report. These institutions are active in the five focus areas covered: administration, green building, student involvement, food and recycling, and climate change and energy.

The report found that HBCUs are also recognizing that strategic sustainability plans can benefit the bottom line.  Highlighted projects include UMD Eastern Shore's solar farm - the largest concentration of PV panels on one site in Maryland, a LEED Gold renovation at Spelman College, a new Sustainability Institute at Florida A&M, the conversion of the football field to an organic farm at Paul Quinn College, and a commitment to a 20% reduction in energy use over 5 years at Clark Atlanta.

CAU President, Dr. Carlton Brown states in the report: "Long before the world fully grasped the urgent need to address climate change, Clark Atlanta University’s (CAU) Environmental Justice Resource Center provided leadership in documenting and addressing industrial pollution practices that disproportionately impacted communities of color... This work evolved into a global movement for climate justice. Climate change is one of the most critical challenges facing the global family today and special mission institutions like CAU have a unique role to play in crafting triple bottom line solutions that transform challenged under-served communities into healthy, vibrant livable neighborhoods."

The Building Green Initiative's report is a great source for learning more about how HBCUs across the country are working to do just that.

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