- The Goals
- SDG 1: No Poverty
- SDG 2: Zero Hunger
- SDG 3: Good health and well-being
- SDG 4: Quality education
- SDG 5: Gender equality
- SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
- SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
- SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
- SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- SDG 10: Reduced inequalities
- SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
- SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production
- SDG 13: Climate action
- SDG 14: Life below water
- SDG 15: Life on land
- SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals
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Climate action
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Climate change is a real and undeniable threat to our entire civilization. The effects are already visible and will be catastrophic unless we act now. Through education, innovation and adherence to our climate commitments, we can make the necessary changes to protect the planet. These changes also provide huge opportunities to modernize our infrastructure which will create new jobs and promote greater prosperity across the globe.
SFU's Strategic Sustainability and Climate Action Plan
Focusing on six goals and 18 actions, SFU’s 2022-2025 Strategic Sustainability and Climate Action Plan guides SFU to take bold steps to prioritize climate justice, resilience and action at our university and in our communities.
This renewed plan – approved in September 2022 – is an update to the original SFU 2020-2025 Sustainability Plan that was published in January 2020. It reflects the substantial shift in context “post” pandemic, modernizes some aspects of the plan and aligns the plan with the Embedding Sustainability and Climate Action Approach (ESCAA).
Declaring a climate emergency
After years of community advocacy, SFU has declared a climate emergency, which is a critical step forward. However, a climate emergency declaration needs to have a strong climate action plan and organizational commitment to completing the plan to be meaningful. Our plan addresses SFU’s approach to responding to the climate emergency and the declaration compels SFU to ensure that it is sufficiently aligned with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommendations for a 1.5-degree Celsius world.
Divestment
In November 2021, SFU announced a full divestment from fossil fuels by 2025. Many of the strides SFU has made are driven by the commitment of it its Board of Governors, its Investment Advisory Committee, Responsible Investment Committee, groups like SFU 350, and our students, who continue to raise awareness about the importance of the impact that we can make. Presently, SFU only has three percent of its investment portfolio left in fossil fuel-related industries, with its global equity portfolio and fixed income portfolio already 100 per cent fossil-fuel-free.
Read the report
SFU at COP 28
SFU's COP 28 delegation marks the second time the university sent a delegation with representation from across the university to the conference. The purpose of this delegation is to share our work, connect with other global organizations, document the conference and how climate negotiations take place, share with the SFU community what we see and learn, connect SFU student climate leaders with the youth delegation, speak at sessions and showcase SFU's climate action and research leadership.
Embedding Sustainability and Climate Action Framework
The Embedding Sustainability and Climate Action (ESCA) framework is used by the central SFU Sustainability and Climate Office to facilitate the creation, implementation, evaluation and communication of SFU’s strategic sustainability and climate action plans in collaboration with each VP portfolio. The framework is designed to embed climate action across SFU’s core business areas, including teaching, research, community and global engagement, and operations. Climate action is the work of all SFU community members. ESCA is designed to build this accountability into the formal structures of the university including planning, policy, processes, human resource allocation and more.
Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) and SFU have collaborated on multiple regional-partnership initiatives. PICS unites experts from British Columbia’s four research universities (including SFU) with government, businesses and community leaders to generate evidence-based, usable, and durable solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. PICS supports BC’s GHG emissions reduction targets and contributes to resiliency across industry, business and multi-level government policies.
Student Organizations
- Embark Sustainability’s Climate Action Team: This student-led non-profit at SFU is working to convene students and stakeholders to co-create climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies while encouraging personal commitments to responsible action.
- SFU 350: A student organization committed to engaging the SFU community in meaningful action against climate change in pursuit of a more sustainable world.
Climate Innovation at SFU
Climate Innovation is a critical research priority at SFU that takes a community-first approach to co-develop and co-implement innovative solutions to address climate change. Climate Innovation integrates three intersectoral research streams: adaptation, mitigation and sustainability, using three foundational approaches that inform our research: community partnerships, innovation, and valuing of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives. SFU Climate Innovation is working on several interdisciplinary projects that focus on community-centered partnerships to address some of the most pressing issues in our communities. Local and regional partners include: the Ciy of Port Moody, City of Burnaby, City of Maple Ridge, First National Housing and Infrastructure Council, BC Housing, Technical Safety BC, the University of British Columbia, Translink and others.
ACT – Action on Climate Team
ACT is the first and only university-based think tank initiative in North America dedicated to low carbon resilience and nature-based solutions to climate change impacts. ACT is moving action on climate change from scholarship to practice and back to ensure that governments, organizations and individuals have the information they need to urgently address climate change and its global impacts—while transitioning toward sustainability goals.
Facts and Figures
- 302 research publications relating to SDG 13, 2019-2023
- 146 active research projects related to SDG 13 funded between 2019 - 2023
- At least 70 researchers involved in research relating to SDG 13 (source: SFU Research Expertise Engine)
UN RACE TO ZERO
In 2021, Simon Fraser University (SFU) is committed to the United Nations-backed Race to Zero campaign, the largest global alliance of its kind to date. As part of this commitment, SFU set ambitious emission reduction targets that will see 85 per cent GHG emissions reductions by 2030, net zero reductions of direct emissions by 2035, and net zero of all emissions by 2050. SFU is currently on track to meet interim targets set for 2025.
Carbon Neutrality Climate Change Accountability Report 2023
As of January 2010, SFU and other British Columbia public sector organizations have been carbon neutral in order to meet the Greenhouse Gas Reductions Act and Bill 44 targets for a carbon neutral public sector. This was just the beginning, as SFU has continued to work at decreasing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As part of B.C.’s public sector, SFU is required to submit a Climate Change Accountability Report (CCAR) to the B.C. Climate Action Secretariat (Ministry of Environment) and the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education. The report summarizes SFU’s annual GHG emissions (scope 1 and 2) from the government mandated reporting areas: direct and indirect fuel used for operating building systems (heating, cooling of buildings and electricity) and from consumption of office paper. In 2023, SFU's total Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions were 10,382 tCO2e, representing a 46 per cent reduction from the 2007 baseline.