ANU zeroes in on negative carbon emissions by 2030

The Australian National University (ANU) is the one of the first universities in Australia and the world to commit to reducing greenhouse emissions to below zero by 2030, with a new initiative launched today. ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt said ANU is "walking the walk" to tackle climate change by not only reducing emissions, but offsetting any emissions the University cannot avoid.  "As Australia's national university, we are committed to not only reducing and off-setting our emissions, but also taking more carbon out of the atmosphere than we put in," Professor Schmidt said.  "Climate change is already here. The past decade includes nine of the 10 hottest years on record around the world - 2019 was Australia's hottest year ever."   Under the Paris Agreement, governments around the world have committed to limit global warming to well-below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and, if possible, to 1.5 degrees Celsius.   "Unfortunately, the world is on track to warm by between 2.8 and 3.2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century," Professor Schmidt said.   "Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to zero as soon as possible is essential, but this alone won't be enough to meet our global goals."  The University's collective approach to taking local, national and international action on climate change is the ANU Below Zero Initiative. ANU has also set an interim target of net-zero emissions by 2025, as a stepping stone to achieving negative emissions.  "Achieving below zero is ambitious and it will involve big changes to the way we do things - but as the national university, we must show leadership in driving a societal transformation to address climate change," Professor Schmidt said.