Climate change has been labelled the biggest threat facing humanity, so what’s stopping us from taking urgent action? To help professionals make the bold leap from ideas to action, SFU Continuing Studies has now launched the Climate Action Certificate program. Designed for anyone working in government, planning, engineering, or other sectors impacted by climate change, the new online program offers the practical skills, knowledge, and strategies needed to advance your climate leadership, overcome systemic barriers and implement effective climate solutions. 

Nelly Leo, executive director of Embark Sustainability, was recognized as one of the North American Association for Environmental Education's 30 Under 30 for her ongoing leadership in environmental and sustainability education at SFU and beyond. The review panel was incredibly impressed by Nelly’s leadership, passion and impact on building stronger, healthier communities through environmental education (EE). As part of the EE 30 Under 30 community, Nelly joins a global network of 240 young leaders in EE and has access to networking and professional development opportunities specifically for EE 30 Under 30 awardees/alumni.

SFUS and the Centre for Educational Excellence are co-leading the development of educational opportunities for SFU students, staff, and faculty to strengthen climate and sustainability knowledge and skills. In a spirit of co-creating with the SFU community, we conducted interactive focus groups on all campuses with support from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, as well as interviews with faculty, students and staff (fall 2022 – summer 2023). During these consultations we explored the needs, goals and expectations of the SFU community, and heard theories of change on how to help enhance climate and sustainability knowledge, skills and competences at SFU. 

At the end of April, the Faculty of Environment hosted an interdisciplinary dialogue exploring how we might face and embrace ecological grief, build resilience, and work together to create a more sustainable future. Jason Brown, Lecturer, SFU’s Global Humanities and Resource and Environmental Management, gave the keynote presentation, Litanies of Grief for the Coming Age, which can be read here. 

With a reputation as one of Canada’s fastest growing research institutions, SFU’s 2023-2028 Strategic Research Plan (SRP) identifies key areas of strength and focus for the future. The plan embeds the core values of the university’s institutional plan into research practice using six approaches and includes five institutional research priority areas that demonstrate SFU’s commitment to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For the first time, the university sent a formal delegation of SFU community members, including VPRI Dugan O'Neil, to participate the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022. The annual international meeting brings together the 197 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In April 2023, the Office of the Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion shared two institutional strategic plans that outlines their work towards transforming the people experience at SFU. These plans are aligned with other institutional plans including the Academic Plan, Community Engagement Plan and the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan.

The Equity Office has hosted Equity, Diversity and Inclusion training and facilitated discussions with SFU Sustainability to improve the capacity of the central sustainability team to integrate equity considerations across the university’s sustainability and climate action work. 

The Equity Office is co-developing a decision-making tool with SFU Sustainability that can provide a framework that helps units and leaders consider both EDI and sustainability when making decisions, planning projects, implementing strategic plans, and designing new initiatives.

In alignment with What’s Next: The SFU Strategy, the Equity Office has released a set of guidelines for including EDI in performance planning. In this guide readers are invited to think about both EDI and the goals within the SFU Strategic Sustainability and Climate Action plan, which reinforces the link between these two critical concepts.

The annual rankings measure universities’ strengths in advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which call on developed and developing countries to partner on critical global issues. SFU also topped the rankings for sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) in 2020 and has consistently been among the top 10 universities worldwide in that category since then. Nationally, SFU also ranks third for climate action (SDG 13).

On June 24, 2023, the Climate Action Fellowship cohort hosted a final Showcase. This Showcase presented the opportunity for the community to gather and meet SFU’s Climate Action Fellows. After 10 weeks of exploration and inquiry, the new Fellows shared their insights on community-driven climate action opportunities in Burnaby.  

Featuring community-engaged research, policy-targeted knowledge mobilization, equity-serving knowledge translation and even Bertie, a breakfast banana mascot, this year’s winners of the SFU Student-Community Engagement Competition are bravely building community partnerships across B.C. in order to tackle challenging complex issues, like Islamophobia, food insecurity, health justice and more.

SFU’s Investment Portfolio Carbon Footprint Factsheet details the university’s efforts to reduce its investment portfolio’s carbon footprint by 45 per cent by 2025. Towards this end, as of March 2022, the university has achieved a 74 per cent reduction in its investment portfolio’s carbon footprint, which is 29 per cent above target and well ahead of its 2025 deadline. In addition, SFU has pledged full divestment from fossil fuels by the end of 2025. The university is well on its way to its target having already eliminated all fossil fuel investments in its global equity portfolio.

Working with Quantum Lifecycle, a local company operating state-of-the-art reuse and recycling systems, IT Services plans to recycle and repurpose all SFU’s data-bearing devices, such as computers cell phones, tablets, and servers (among other equipment). By extending the life of devices, fewer head to the landfill and SFU contributes to our goal of reducing the need for raw materials to manufacture new products in the first place.

Advancement and Alumni Engagement (AAE) embeds sustainability thinking in all operations of our department, from targeting our donors, staff, faculty, alumni, and various philanthropic programs to structuring themes, as applicable, within the new comprehensive campaign.  

AAE has been active in supporting our portfolio’s sustainability goals by enthusiastically pursuing sustainability fundraising initiatives, and by amplifying SFU’s commitment to sustainability through our events, operations, and donor or alumni communications as well as stewardship and engagement initiatives. Collaborating with SFU Sustainability, we are in the preliminary stages of conceiving a proposed community-driven sustainability fund. 

AAE is highlighting and amplifying SFU’s progress and commitment to sustainability to alumni and donors whenever possible, including sharing the university’s progress on decarbonizing investments and providing fundraisers with up-to-date resources on SFU’s endowment and building an environmentally responsible investment portfolio. 

Stories highlighting AAE’s activities that support sustainability: 

• The power of reciprocity 
• Meet Angie Lamarsh, Chair of the SFU Board of Governors 
• Meet Chris (Syeta’xtn) Lewis, Director of Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation 
• Part of the bigger picture

To encourage our operations’ carbon footprint reduction, we have switched to paperless delivery channels to our donors, including tax receipts and regulatory reporting. In other donor and alumni communications, we have also pivoted to paperless production and distribute primarily in digital format, including: our monthly SFU Alumni eNews, Engage magazine (which goes out twice per year), stewardship and impact reports, discussion papers, proposals, and other solicitation materials. 

Whether we are planning alumni, donor or stewardship events, staff meetings or socials, we encourage the use of public transit and/or carpooling to our events. We try to use locally sourced catering whenever possible, and our event invitations are also almost exclusively digital in format.