The 2024 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit was hosted by Second Nature and the Intentional Endowments Network in Long Beach, California, February 11-13, 2024. With over 450 attendees, this year’s Summit had the largest-ever turnout in the history of the event!

Participants attended 35 sessions and heard inspiring keynote and plenary speakers on topics ranging from Scaling Action at the System Level and HBCUs & the Climate Imperative to Harnessing the Power of Storytelling for Climate Action.

Over three days, attendees had the opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and forge new relationships on their climate action journey. Inspiring stories of innovative climate solutions and collaborations emerged during keynotes, plenaries, program sessions, and energetic peer-to-peer conversations throughout the Summit. 

“The Summit was the perfect way to recharge my batteries and return to work with new direction and hope. The opportunity to gather with fellow sustainability officers from around the nation and share our journeys, struggles, and dreams is immeasurable.”
– 2024 Summit Attendee

The Summit featured inspiring plenary sessions and keynote speakers, including:

• Heather McTeer Toney, Executive Director, Beyond Petrochemicals
• Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO, United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
• Lisa P. Jackson, Vice President, Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, Apple
• W. Kamau Bell, Comedian, director and producer
• Nalleli Cobo, Activist & Co-Founder, People Not Pozos & South Central Youth Leadership Coalition

One of the essential takeaways from this year’s Summit was that climate leadership doesn’t only come from places of positional power such as presidents and chancellors but equally resides in faculty, staff, and students at a diverse range of institutions, whose efforts have created new models for engagement to accelerate climate action.

“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) didn’t feel like a fringe topic but rather was very central. Thank you!”
– 2024 Summit Attendee

We consistently heard about the deep connections on climate justice that continue to develop between campuses and their surrounding communities. These collaborations demonstrate how higher education can play a crucial role in creating climate solutions in partnership with historically marginalized communities, often disproportionately impacted by climate change.

Reflecting on this year’s gathering and looking towards the future, Second Nature President Tim Carter noted:

“At the Summit we heard many isolated examples, individual case studies, and distinctive ways of thinking and doing that demonstrate the wide range of ways our sector can lead on climate solutions. But as I mentioned in my opening remarks at the Summit, if we are going to truly mobilize our sector to address the climate crisis at the speed and scale it demands, we also have to build diverse relationships with people at a broad range of institutions – and in this diversity, we have to unify.

Second Nature exists to accelerate this type of shared progress. We will be laser-focused in the year ahead on demonstrating how our network and our network activities can help drive climate solutions forward. It will be through diversity and the unity that comes with it that we can build cohesion, strength, and resilience, doing more as a sector together than we could ever imagine on our own.“

 

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It’s actually a tough one to answer, not only because of the jetlag and exhaustion that comes along with the long days and international travel, but because the conference actually isn’t a singular thing (you can check out our resource page to learn more about what COP formally is). 

This is my fifth COP and I’ve found the best way to answer the “how’d it go?” question is to think of it as three concentric circles, and how our small delegation of higher education leaders engages with these different experiences of the largest climate conference in the world.   

The Inner Circle: The Formal Negotiations 

The smallest circle represents the formal negotiations. These are driven by climate diplomats from every country working year-round to hammer out the technical details of the policy and implementation of this complex international climate agreement. Our delegation doesn’t spend much time in the formal negotiations as our access to the inner circle of the COP is as “Observers,” meaning that we can sit in on some negotiation sessions, but we’re just listening, not offering input. And, honestly, unless you are the wonkiest of the climate wonks, since these sessions are so technical, it’s hard to get excited about attending them even as they are very important. In the end, the Parties (the countries participating in COP) agreed in the “UAE Consensus” that we needed to begin “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.” 

My inner circle takeaways:

• First time transitioning away from fossil fuels in a COP decision text = good!
• Taking 28 years to get to this point = not great!
• Not including phase out or phase down language for all fossil fuels + many other loopholes (e.g. “transition fuels”, funding questions, accountability) = still lots of work to do!
  

The Second Circle: Side Events, Pavilions, and Hoopla

The second circle of the COP is the side events — some are more like side shows — in large and small pavilions hosted by countries, NGOs, and private businesses. As a small delegation of higher education leaders, this is where we spent most of our time. We were able to host and facilitate numerous panels with our presidents from Truckee Meadows Community College and Stony Brook University, and other senior higher education leaders discussing how our sector can continue to support global climate solutions on and off campus. 

We co-hosted a higher education pavilion — the first of its kind, as far as I can remember — and participated in receptions of our peers and colleagues from the international higher education community. This is always a great time to build and strengthen relationships that last far beyond the event itself. There is no way these partnerships, and ultimately the program activities resulting from them, could happen without face-to-face engagement. There is a ubiquitous critique that we burn fossil fuels to make these relationships happen, and that’s true. But, the outcomes resulting from these in-person meetings are a tradeoff, and one that is vital to the work we do.

The remarkable thing about this year’s “second circle” was the sheer magnitude of it. There were double the number of pavilions from 2022, which itself was a record. While COP has always been the center of the climate world for these two weeks, the second circle now has become a planet unto itself. 

My second circle takeaways:

• Platform opportunities for our delegation on the international stage = success!
• New relationships formed and existing relationships strengthened = absolutely!
• Contributing and supporting the global industrial climate trade show complex = disorienting?
  

The Third Circle: Marches, Protests, and Activism

This one I can keep very short: unlike in past years, this circle was basically non-existent. All the attendees knew protesting was a non-starter in the UAE, as large-scale civil society demonstrations are not allowed; that is just not something that happens there. There were a few highly curated chants of 10-15 people within a designated area of the badged zone, but nothing like what we saw in Glasgow or other previous COPs.

My third circle takeaways:

• Nothing to see here!

So that’s my reflection from the “three circle” perspective of COP28. 

Until next year, the work continues to implement the ambitions, large and small, that were agreed on these last couple of weeks. We’ll be sure higher education continues to have a key role in driving success.

Key Takeaways from COP28

Samantha Thomas
Climate Program Manager, Data and Evaluation, Second Nature

The debate on whether this COP was successful continues to highlight the urgency we’re all facing. I attended 33 sessions hosted during the first week of COP28 where I engaged with leaders across industries and communities that, unlike the final negotiations, gave me hope and confidence. There is a real sense of urgency and determination from some of our most brilliant leaders to end the use of fossil fuels and achieve sustainable and just development. Here are just a few of the takeaways from my first COP experience.

1. There is still a massive divide between scientific consensus to end fossil fuel extraction and the greenwashing of major oil company representatives defending a slow phase-out. This is a particularly visible debate as the number of oil and gas representatives was around 2,500 compared to 600 at last year’s COP.

2. The loss and damage fund was perhaps the most successful negotiation of the COP, with more than $700 million pledged. However, this amount does not yet cover the estimated losses.

3. Indigenous leaders continue to pave the way for just solutions that are developed by local communities, not by large corporations or governments. Through formal negotiations, demonstrations, and panels, it seemed like Indigenous voices were on the main stage, rather than sidelined.

4. There were dozens of new AI and big data tools launched at this COP including Climate Trace, a responsive map that uses satellite, sensor, and machine learning data to measure and identify top global polluters. The AI Innovation Grand Challenge was announced to identify and fund AI development of solutions in climate action, which is already being used to predict severe weather events, decrease resource consumption, and improve smart agriculture. 

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Foster: encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something regarded as good)

Reciprocal: given, felt, or done in return

Relationship: the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected

Hope: a feeling of trust or a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen

On September 11 and 12th Second Nature hosted an event that felt like the words above: a space grounded in sharing, vulnerability, love, accountability, and wisdom. Our first event of this kind, Fostering Reciprocal Relationships for Climate Action: A Midwest Gathering was designed to strengthen our connectivity and relationship-building capacities to increase our collective strength. This is viewed as a critical step in advancing our collective impact around climate change.

During this small conference, attendees from institutions across the region gathered on the Menominee Reservation to center and learn from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Students, sustainability staff and faculty, and diversity, equity, and inclusion professionals learned more about what it means to be in authentic relationships with those who hold different identities, digging deeper into the hard questions around cross-cultural and cross-racial relationships while moving towards the collective goal of climate action.

We felt grounded by the wisdom of those who shared with us: Rebbeca Edler, College of Menominee Nation; Katherine MacHolmes, DEIAJ Associate for Second Nature; Wade Fernandez, international award-winning Menominee musician, and Rosa Cabrera, University of Illinois Chicago. Other panelists and session leads led conversations with openness and humility which allowed the small group to share personal and vulnerable experiences with each other. 

“Let the stories lead and the science follow.”

These words come from Jeff Grignon, whose Menominee Forest tour was a highlight for many. Jeff’s natural ability to speak about the forest as part of us will hold a special place in all participants’ hearts. He compares fungi, critical to the health of the forest, to our internal (heart)work being critical to our ability to do the external work of climate action and social justice. If we have not done the work internally, it will show up in our relationships – tending to what people cannot see is just as important as tending to what they can. 

Jeff also spoke about looking to the plants like we do our human elders, observing them to find the teaching they have for us. To fully experience this, Jeff asked us to go find a group of plants and observe them using all of our senses, to let them teach us. Each of us felt humbled to be welcomed not only onto the Menominee Reservation, but also to the Menominee Forest. This is a place the Menominee have carefully and lovingly stewarded for centuries, which we were given permission to visit during our stay.

For Blythe Coleman-Mumford, Second Nature’s Southeast Climate Programs Manager, the Midwest Gathering was a unique space that fostered dialogues that manifested authenticity and genuine curiosity. The experience encouraged her to sustain a softness, vulnerability and presence that enabled her to connect with people in a way she hadn’t allowed herself to before, or had previously felt unsafe doing. Blythe was deeply encouraged to see the space created by the Midwest Gathering offer an opportunity for growth for non-BIPOC participants, and a site for reflection for BIPOC participants on their own journeys in cross-racial and cross-cultural relationships. The Gathering created a rare chance for both BIPOC and non-BIPOC participants to see each others’ work being done in real time. 

In Katherine’s words, the space felt like it honored everyone in the room. It honored and held each of our diverse identities, and left us with the understanding that a new world is possible. But in order to build it we have to slow down, intentionally come into community with each other, moving beyond our fast-paced culture and develop our ability to hear, see, feel, touch, and taste this newness.

We can do it together. We’ve felt it now.

Thank You

We are extremely grateful to Rebecca Edler and the College of Menominee Nation for their support of this event; to the Menominee who graciously welcomed us to the Menominee Reservation; Wade Fernandez who shared the gift of his music and presence; the staff at the Menominee Casino and Resort who hosted us; Jeff Grignon for sharing his wisdom and teachings about the Menominee Forest; Nicholas Schwitzer of CMN’s Sustainable Development Institute for sharing his photos and videos with us; and to all of the speakers for sharing their time and wisdom:

• Chris Caldwell (College of Menominee Nation)
• Sougata Bardhan (Lincoln University)
• Rosa Cabrera (University of Illinois, Chicago)
• Blythe Coleman-Mumford (Second Nature)
• Paisley Sierra (University of Minnesota, Morris)
• Rebecca Edler (College of Menominee Nation)
• Katherine MacHolmes (Second Nature)

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The primary objectives of Second Nature’s Buddy Program are to champion interpersonal relationship building among peer higher educational institutions in the Southeast and to share scalable sustainability best practices that fit the culture and capacity of each institution. Second Nature and Agnes Scott College (Decatur, GA) are both invested in building a long-standing active relationship with Bennett College (Greensboro, NC) to discover new and innovative ways to partner and support each other’s legacy and continued institutional growth in a variety of ways that move the needle on climate action.

Second Nature partnered with Agnes Scott College’s Center for Sustainability team and Bennett College’s “Green Team” affiliated faculty and administration contacts to launch this program. Second Nature provided funding to host a campus visit and tour at Agnes Scott College with Bennett College’s CFO, Elizabeth Waugh, and faculty contact Anne Hayes. Anne is currently the Executive Director of Global & Interdisciplinary Programs at Bennett College. She is a long-time supporter of their climate action work and a champion of their student Green Team. 

Agnes Scott College introduced Elizabeth and Anne to their colleagues at the Center for Sustainability and the facilities and development staff, along with campus and community partners on the Climate Resilience Plan Task Force. These conversations focused on sharing the implementation and potential replication of their financial model and climate action tool, Agnes Scott’s 100% donor-funded Green Revolving Fund. The campus visit was the result of many months of planning discussions between Blythe Coleman-Mumford, Climate Programs Regional Manager at Second Nature, Kimberly Reeves, Executive Director of the Center for Sustainability at Agnes Scott College, Elizabeth Rowe, Environmental Management Consultant, former interim director of the Center for Sustainability at Agnes Scott College. 

Before the meeting, Bennett’s CFO, Elizabeth Waugh, said her ideal visit and anticipated actionable outcomes were “Thoughtful, creative ideas to implement at Bennett College in a financially sustainable way. We have limited funding, so partnering with other institutions and agencies to improve our program is a top priority.” Anne Hayes said, “I’d love to bring back ideas for specific projects that we could integrate, some lower cost, high impact sustainability practices…and to learn about [Agnes Scott’s] Green Revolving Fund and discuss with our CFO if that is something that could be replicated on campus.”

Anne Hayes has been a true advocate for Bennett and their sustainability efforts. Anne notes, “Bennett College is a very special place, and as a small college, we do so much for and with our students. I think Bennett’s history is remarkable–from Belles’ involvement with the Civil Rights Movement, the spark of Woolworth’s Sit-Ins in 1960, and all of Bennett’s work in civil and women’s rights. It blows me away! I love that current students are drawing from that legacy to do their own social justice and environmental justice work.”

The rich history of Bennett College, especially as one of the only HBCUs for women still in existence, ensures they have much to offer the Climate Leadership Network. Second Nature believes it’s important to champion and amplify Bennett’s impressive climate action progress with others in our network with this historical legacy in mind.

Anne Hayes, Elizabeth Waugh, Kimberly Reeves, and Elizabeth Rowe felt they had a productive day and appreciated the unique chance to connect personally and professionally.

Bennett’s CFO, Elizabeth Waugh, said, “Thank you all for the connections and amazing hospitality! We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Agnes Scott, and we look forward to setting up a meeting and further discussing the partnership with Second Nature.” 

Kimberly Reeves, Executive Director of Agnes Scott’s Center for Sustainability, noted in a debrief discussion the importance of “peer-to-peer discussions” as a pathway to “recognize similarities and identify tools that could be scaled, replicated, and translated to fit each campus culture and identity.” She affirmed that there is no one size fits all approach to tackling climate action planning and that creative funding models and knowing how to communicate best and partner with each of your audiences are vital themes at every campus and organization. Elizabeth Rowe agreed and also quoted noted climate leader and former Sustainability Center Executive Director for Agnes Scott, Susan Kidd, “You can’t reduce what you can’t measure” as a foundational rule for the importance of leveraging metrics within climate action planning. 

“My biggest takeaway from our two days with the Agnes Scott team was that all departments on campus are involved and integral to their sustainability work. From Facilities to faculty, the CFO to the advancement team, the students to the President—everyone understands sustainability to be key to the mission of the college, and they’re excited to contribute!”

– Anne Hayes, Ph.D.

“I also took away the importance of having a top-notch sustainability consultant who can weave together complex information—how to calculate energy savings and data, how to maximize rebates and savings from energy providers, how to prioritize and balance campus and deferred maintenance needs, and how to project a clear cost-benefit analysis of green projects—all to make a compelling argument for sustainable renovation. The model has to work. If done right, colleges will not only choose green renovation because it’s the right thing to do; they’ll choose sustainable options because they will ultimately save us operational dollars, help us creatively address deferred maintenance, and be the platform for creating a healthy, beautiful and safe learning environment for our students. That’s the potential.”

–Anne Hayes, Ph.D.

What’s Next?

Anne Hayes has been collaborating with President Suzanne Walsh of Bennett to prioritize sustainability on campus. Both see environmental justice and sustainability as integral to Bennett’s mission. President Walsh recently created an RFP to complete renovations and increase energy efficiency in their gymnasium, using language that draws from lessons learned through the Buddy Program discussions with Agnes Scott and maximizing the benefits of IRA funding. 

Anne added, “We’re asking that the building contractor calculate how many years it will take for the more energy-efficient products to pay for themselves, as well as the annual energy savings and the potential cost savings of the various energy products they’re using. Collecting these data and calculations for energy and cost savings will be impactful for telling our story and raising money!” With some best practices from the Agnes Scott Team, Anne will also work with Brian Auriti, Bennett’s Director of Institutional Planning, Effectiveness, and Research, to collect and analyze campus energy and water use data.

Kimberly Reeves was grateful for the opportunity to showcase projects, programs, and partnerships that have been the foundation for Agnes Scott’s climate action work. The Buddy Program has fostered an intentional collaboration with thoughtful questions and feedback from our colleagues that will positively impact Agnes Scott’s next decade of climate action and justice. In the short term, conversations from this program have helped shape the college’s 2023 Climate Action Plan update. Kimberly is excited about all future opportunities that will flourish through this program.

Moving forward, Bennett, Agnes Scott, and Second Nature will continue to meet to discuss best practices in campus sustainability initiatives that can support both institutions. Second Nature will continue to help steward relationships with both institutions and their administrative and facilities staff.

Second Nature looks forward to expanding this program to other institutions in the Climate Leadership Network. To learn more, contact Blythe Coleman-Mumford, Regional Climate Programs Manager, Southeast.

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Led by the United Nations Environment Programme, “World Environment Day is a global platform for inspiring positive change.  With over 150 countries participating, this UN international day engages governments, businesses, civil society, schools, celebrities, cities and communities, raising awareness and celebrating environmental action.”  

The vision of National Higher Education Day is “to fully equip every United States student both scholastically and financially for a higher education!” 

Maybe you’re asking, “where is Amanda going with this?”  Let’s pause on that question for a moment, and focus on the societal and community role of higher education institutions. 

Colleges and universities – both here in the United States and around the world – provide the vital platform needed to inspire robust solutions to some of the most pressing global issues of our lifetime.  They do this through educating the next generation of leaders, research and scientific discovery, policy engagement, cross-sectoral community partnerships, and much more.  

All of us know (and you’ve often heard us state this at Second Nature) that solving climate change takes all of us.  This issue, like many global issues (COVID-19), affects all of us in some way, thus truly does take every single one of us being a part of the solution.   

According to the The World Bank:

“Tertiary education (formal post-secondary education) benefits not just the individual, but society as a whole.  Graduates of tertiary education are more environmentally conscious, have healthier habits, and have a higher level of civic participation.  Also, increased tax revenues from higher earnings, healthier children, and reduced family size all build stronger nations.  In short, tertiary education institutions prepare individuals not only by providing them with adequate and relevant job skills, but also by preparing them to be active members of their communities and societies.” 

Thus, my argument is that the more educated a society is, the more we all benefit.

While this is one argument, and doesn’t include more in depth analysis and the acknowledgement of vital factors such as higher education not being equally accessible to every person, it does lend itself to argue how important higher education is to initiating societal climate action in support of a more sustainable and equitable world.  

In the United States, we definitely have work to do.  According to ThinkImpact, 38% of students dropout of college because they’re not able to financially support their education. Additionally, 28% dropout because they are disqualified academically/not able to meet academic requirements.

We cannot continue to accelerate climate action and create real change towards a more sustainable and equitable world without also increasing the number of students – our future leaders – successfully completing their college/university education.  One way to do so is to up the ante when it comes to the resources we are providing to higher education students.  

This includes, but is not limited to, making it more financially feasible to every person to attain a college/university degree.  Further, more supportive resources also need to be made available to higher ed students to help them throughout their higher educational career.  

Additionally, higher education institutions should be working directly with K-12 schools within their communities in a more active way to ensure that higher education is accessible to every student, regardless of any potential circumstances potentially making it currently inaccessible. 

None of this is an easy feat.  However, again, I argue that having a more educated populace is a benefit to all of us, including when it comes to the creation of climate solutions.    

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