The University of Pittsburgh has earned three inaugural Climate Action Milestones from Second Nature for Inclusive Governance, Education Integration, and Investment in Decarbonization as part of a national program marking higher education’s climate action progress.
Pitt was one of seven institutions in Second Nature’s Climate Leadership Network pilot cohort, which together earned 16 milestones across seven categories.
“The University of Pittsburgh is honored to be recognized with three inaugural Second Nature Climate Action Milestones,” said Aurora Sharrard, assistant vice chancellor for sustainability. “Integrating educational experience with inclusive governance is a cornerstone of our climate action and journey toward carbon neutrality by 2037.”
Pitt’s Investment in Decarbonization milestone recognizes the Pitt Climate Action Plan (PittCAP) Capital Fund, created in 2022 to direct funding toward energy and carbon-saving projects. Since fiscal year 2023, the fund has allocated $21.4 million, supporting 51 projects across 30 buildings and three campuses. Energy-focused projects include LED lighting and HVAC upgrades, appliance efficiency, window updates and weatherization, electrification, and 3.7 megawatts of rooftop solar.
The Inclusive Governance milestone highlights the work of Pitt’s Carbon Commitment Committee, which has guided the University’s climate strategy since 2020 with faculty, staff and student representation. The committee is leading an update to the PittCAP, expected to publish in 2027.
Pitt’s Education Integration milestone recognizes 16 years of greenhouse gas inventories led by Pitt graduate students under Melissa Bilec, co-director of the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and professor in civil and environmental engineering. The inventories have trained generations of students now working in sustainability roles worldwide and helped shape and track outcomes from major University decisions, including a late 2000s shift from coal to natural gas at the Bellefield Boiler Plant and a 20-year power purchase agreement with the 20-megawatt Gaucho Solar Farm, the largest solar farm in Southwestern Pennsylvania.