Board issues letter ahead of UN Conference of Parties

Board Chair Steven A. Denning and President John Hennessy issued a statement on behalf of the Board of Trustees to the conveners of a major climate change conference in Paris to look to universities for guidance.

Denning and Hennessy urged the conveners of the twenty-first gathering of the United Nations “Conference of the Parties,” or the COP21, to consider Stanford as a pioneer on dealing with climate change. In the statement, they emphasized Stanford’s new campus energy system, expected to reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 68 percent.

The Chair and the President also addressed the strides Stanford has made in research and teaching with respect to climate change, citing the Woods Institute for Environment, the Precourt Institute for Energy and the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance as investments Stanford has made on the climate change front. They noted the crucial role of students, pointing out that students “recognize climate change as a critical issue for their generation and for the world.”

Other major areas of focus that Denning and Hennessy highlighted are on-campus transportation and building energy efficiency, both efforts that they urge COP21 participants to look to when considering the role universities play in the global climate change effort.

Denning and Hennessy encouraged “all institutions, at all levels, to confront the climate challenge ambitiously and with urgency.”

Contact Dhaval Gajiwala at gajiwala ‘at’ stanford.edu.