Mike Wallace, Former Focal Point for US and Canada for Global Reporting Initiative, now Strategic Advisor to S&P Global; Mike is a member of the COPx Core Group
A tried, true, and tested method to scale climate action across ALL universities
What if you could help your alma mater improve its climate protection efforts? What if, at the same time, you could teach students how to do carbon accounting, and help them find careers in sustainability? I’m doing this with various universities, but I could use more help to scale it Hence this article for the COPX community.
Workforce development and job creation
I started lecturing at universities when I ran the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (2009-2014). We sought to engage every part of the North American economy in sustainability and reporting, and to ready the next generation for work in the sustainability field. When we launched GRI at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in January 2011, I met a passionate young teacher, Professor Adam Sulkowski, an Assistant Professor of Business Law and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. He proceeded to tell me of his work with students on the university’s own GRI report. Check out – Universities Embrace GRI Sustainability Reporting (January 2011).
It was a precedent setting program that we proceeded to leverage across North America, and the world. The students were part of their Net Impact Chapter. Over the years, they took GRI reporting to their local cities and helped produce the first such GRI reports for cities. Check out – UMass Dartmouth Compiles First GRI Report for a City
Some of these students then went on to find jobs in the sustainability field doing GRI reporting for large and well-known corporations. The city examples caught on with other public institutions. Chicago became the first large city to do a GRI report under Mayor Rahm Emmanuel in 2013. Later, Atlanta and Cleveland became GRI adopters. This showed the power of storytelling and scaling sustainability across the economy.
Step 1 – Getting started
You are reading this because you are a part of COPx network. We’re all working to scale climate action. If you’d like to engage your university, check out if they are on the AASHE STARS list, and whether it has a sustainability rating. Then, look at the Executive Letter to see who is in charge of the effort at your school. Here’s the letter from Arizona State University. Next, use LinkedIn to connect with those named in the letter and adjust and share an email like this:
Dear INSERT
I am a proud graduate of (INSERT UNIVERSITY NAME) and see that you’re responsible for our AASHE STARS report. Thank you for your efforts on this work. I was especially impressed with the (INSERT WHAT YOU LIKED). I work in the sustainability field, and as a graduate of (INSERT NAME) I’d love to support your work. I am part of a network of global experts that has a method to help the university on sustainability issues and help place students in sustainability careers.
At Arizona State University (ASU) a collaboration between Professor Nicole Darnall and Mike Wallace turned into series of precedent setting carbon accounting projects. The projects helped ASU’s understanding of its own carbon footprint, and resulted in many ASU students finding careers in the sustainability field.
As I can see from our own STARS report, you’re starting to explore Scope 3 and Supply Chain Management, including financed emissions from the endowment’s investments. The ASU story started with a look at a portion of the endowment’s own holdings by Prof. Darnell and a group of students. This led to a second project that looked at the endowment’s overall carbon footprint. Since ASU is a member of theIntentional Endowment Network (IEN), Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC), and Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the story echoed through those networks via articles, webinars, and in-person presentations. Students graduated and went on to work in the field and actively connected through a private LinkedIn Group of carbon accounting graduates working in the field.
As the next class entered Professor Darnall’s Masters Program, the idea emerged to look at the supply chain of ASU. As a large, public institution, the purchases of the institution are significant – financially and from a GHG emissions point, too. Scope 3 is a complex issue and Scope 3, Category 1—Purchased Goods and Services—is an area where students, professors, and administrative teams were able to deliver measurable results for ASU. You can see more about this in @Joel Makower’s post, as well as the publication on Trellis from the students. The students are all named and hyperlinked so we can all see their involvement in the sustainability field.
Nicole and Mike also recorded this story in a public presentation at the annual ASHEE Conference, with representatives from ASU and Aramark, a major supplier to ASU and many other universities. You can find the recorded audio her:e Tackling Scope 3 in any universities supply chain (Nov. 2024).
I’m sharing this story with you because I’d like to help my own alma mater replicate this type of work and the job creation success that came from it. With your help and connections, we can quickly repeat some or all of the above story and help you leverage faculty and student interests in your annual sustainability reporting efforts.
Mike is available to help scale this work, as well as share other examples from schools he’s working with across the country. These are easily replicated projects that provide real professional experiences for the students and useable outcomes for the university.
Might you be open for a call in the coming weeks?
Sincerely,
(Your name)
You might also see whether your alma mater’s president has made public commitments to sustainability and if your university has signed on to any formal and public commitments around climate action. You can quickly search Linked In for fellow graduates from your alma mater who are also working in the sustainability field and might want to help. And, as an alum working in the sustainability field, you have every right to engage your alma mater in a sustainability and job creation discussion. You can even take it to the top of the food chain and start with the President.
Step 2 – Implementing the project
After connecting with the people responsible for the ASHEE STARS report, the next place to engage is with the business school. Many have active sustainability agendas, some with sustainability related centers or institutes. All have a vested interest in preparing their graduates for the future of business. For instance, I’m a former board member of my alma mater – Miami University of Ohio’s Farmer School of Business, Center for Business Excellence, and a current advisor to UCLA’s Anderson School of Business, Center for Impact, and Loyola Marymount University’s Business School’s, Sustainability Advisory Board.
There is no future of business without everyone understanding climate change risks and basic carbon accounting principles. Accounting – for carbon or financials – lives in the C-suite and with finance. This is where we need to engage, educate, and prepare future graduates.
Step 3 – Rinse and repeat
Share this article with everyone and tell them all to get involved. There are several examples from across the country and at various levels that I am happy to share and spread. Please feel free to contact me—Mike Wallace – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewallace/—when you’re ready for that initial call with your school’s sustainability staff.
This is easy, doable, has impact, leads to careers, and any and every public university should be doing this supply chain work and publishing about it.
