As discussed in the Introduction to this Toolkit, the ultimate goal of Campus Climate Action is to achieve systemic/institutional commitment to a sustainable campus, including carbon neutrality, throughout all constituencies of the college or university (faculty, staff, students, and administration.)  This means that climate protection and sustainability are actively incorporated into every aspect of the institution, including its mission, education, daily operation, financial management, both long and short-term, and social and organizational investments.  Although institutions will vary regarding how they achieve this goal, certain steps seem essential: 

Total administrative support in the form of goals and/or funding.  In 1990, the University Leaders for a Sustainable Future created the Talloires Declaration, a commitment to sustainable development, presently signed by over 325 national and international institutions.  But sustainability campus leaders have done more.

• Campuses across the US are leading a charge toward climate neutrality.  These include CA-CP partner College of the Atlantic, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, University of Florida, Ball State College, and others.
• Yale University leaders committed to reducing campus greenhouse gas emissions by 10% below 1990 levels through investment in energy conservation and alternate energy sources.
• At Middlebury College, their Trustee Resolution calls for reduction of greenhouse gases by 8% below 1990 levels by 2012.
• In 2004, Harvard University's president, Lawrence Summers, committed the campus to five Sustainability Principles which will enhance human health and foster a transition toward sustainability at Harvard.  The university started a revolving loan fund for sustainability projects, a ground-breaking program that allows for interest-free capital funding with a three-year payback period.  Since its inception, Summers has incrementally committed more money to this fund to its present value of $12 million.
• Connecticut College has also allotted zero-interest funds for capital expenses of energy efficient upgrades and Yale University has done the same with their Green Fund.

Student and Staff Commitment to Climate Action Initiatives:  student and staff commitment is imperative for climate stewardship, often evolving into a grass roots campaign that forces change.

• At UC Santa Barbara, three graduate students in the School of Environmental Science and Management independently developed a plan to meet the state of California's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.  Their plan cuts levels to those of 2000 by 2010, and to those of 1990 by 2020, saving the university $5 million in the process.
• At the University of California at Berkeley, fifteen student groups, including the Campus Greens, The Energy Alliance for Renewables, and Students for a Greener Berkeley petitioned the Chancellor to commit the University to the greenhouse gas reduction conditions of the Kyoto Protocol.  This action led directly to the University's adoption of a formal Campus Climate Protection Plan.
• At both Bates and Ithaca College, students have taken it upon themselves to begin to live sustainably.  At Bates, Environmental House, a group-living experiment, was started in 1998 where 12 students live together, practicing sustainability while participating in environmental community service projects. The house has become a resource center on sustainability for other students. Ithaca College students began a similar program, with 30 students living in an "eco-dorm," practicing low-energy living.
• At Tufts University, students voted in favor of an annual increase of $20 in their student fee to purchase wind power credits.

Sustainability and Climate Change Awareness Teaching Through Curriculum and Example: Because of their commitment to higher learning, colleges and universities have a unique opportunity to teach both climate change awareness and the actions needed to mitigate its effects.  Campus leaders in this area take the opportunity to teach sustainability both through curriculum and action.

• The University of New Hampshire is a leader in research regarding climate change and its effects on the earth.  Its Climate Change Research Center is dedicated to the retrieval and interpretation of global change records that document climate and the influence of human activities on climate and our environment.
• At College of the Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, Maine, every student majors in Human Ecology.  The academic curriculum is designed to integrate human ecological perspective into each area of study in order to investigate and ultimately improve the relationship between human beings and our relationship with the social and natural environment.
• Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) takes sustainability seriously.  Founded in 2002, BGI infuses environmental and social responsibility into its entire curriculum. BGI offers an MBA in Sustainable Business as well as several related certificate programs.   Learn more at www.nwgreencampus.org/northwest-campuses/bainbridge-grad.
• University of Pennsylvania's Center for Sustainability is a learning laboratory for green design architecture and engineering technologies and practices.  The Center offers students and faculty educational experiences with "real world" projects, enhancing opportunities for ecological literacy, experiential education, and professional development.
• A collaborative research team led by faculty members from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Arizona State University are revolutionizing the way engineering education is taught by creating a new Center for Sustainable Engineering.  The center is designed to help future engineers better manage increased stress on the world's limited resources.

Reaching Out to the Community:  Campus climate leaders believe they have an obligation to serve as sustainability educators to their greater community, both in word and in action.

• Ithaca College has partnered with Ecovillage, a textbook example of a successful sustainable community, in order to swap skills and knowledge for both students and the greater Ithaca community.
• Through their Portland Solar Schools Initiative, the University of Southern Maine is helping to install photovoltaic units in local schools and then link them to curricula about sustainability and global warming.
• Eastern Connecticut State University's Institute for Sustainable Energy serves as a resource center for energy education to the surrounding community.  It provides educational outreach, serve as a clearinghouse for energy sustainability information and assists in the development of public policy.

Providing Innovation and Leadership: Legacies are formed when learning institutions serve as trailblazers and innovators, modeling programs that other institutions can follow.

• Tufts University has been a leader in the sustainability movement.  It organized the conference in Talloires, France, in 1990 where the first official commitment to environmental sustainability in higher education, the Talloires Declaration, was drafted.  Tufts was one of the first campuses to perform a greenhouse gas inventory using Clean Air-Cool Planet's tool, and is one of only a handful of campuses that updates their inventory every year.  Tufts Climate Initiative focuses on four main areas:  Greenhouse gas reduction, research and monitoring, education, and outreach and events.  Tufts' wide range of and long-term commitment to climate protection programs helped them win the prestigious EPA Climate Protection Award in 2005.
• Harvard University has been committed to sustainability since the early 1990s.  The Harvard Green Campus Initiative, begun in 2000, is an un-paralleled leader among campus programs.  It engages every campus, involving hundreds of faculty and staff members, and communicates with them through ten separate working, steering, or advisory groups.  HGCI runs thirteen separate programs that focus on numerous sustainability areas, including energy Its Revolving Loan Fund has been a model program that several universities have already or are in the process of adopting.  Harvard's breadth of programs and innovative thinking qualify them as environmental leaders.