Tel Aviv University announced Monday that it will formulate a strategic plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, as well as improve the efficiency of energy use and resources, amid its goal to achieve carbon neutrality.
Several series of tests will be conducted by a team of academic and administrative experts appointed by TAU’s “Green Campus Committee,” which is headed by president Prof. Ariel Porat. The university will then formulate a strategic plan.
The committee launched a comprehensive inspection to assess the overall carbon and water footprint of all TAU activities both on and off campus about a year ago. The analysis assesses the following:
- Energy and water consumption
- Construction and landscaping impacts
- Waste production
- Transportation to and on campus
The report’s findings are expected to be released in the near future.
“TAU established an initiative for carbon neutrality about a year ago – the first of its kind at an Israeli university. Currently, we are completing the initial inspection, and its findings will serve as a foundation for a strategic plan that will significantly reduce the campus’s carbon footprint, and eventually bring us as close as possible to carbon neutrality,” Porat said.
“We hope that other institutions will join us. Time is running out and we must act immediately."
The announcement comes concurrently with the UN’s ongoing COP26 Climate Conference and is of particular interest to the climate-conscious student body at TAU, as Lior Hazan, chairperson of TAU’s Student Union, confirmed. “The climate crisis is spreading and intensifying, causing great concern. It is no longer something occurring far away; it is happening right here and now.
“Students must become leading ambassadors of this cause, since they are the future of society, industry and leadership,” Hazan declared.