Chancellor King and SUNY Board of Trustees Statement on Earth Day Past, Present, and Future
April 22, 2025
"During the original Earth Day on April 22, 1970 – 55 years ago – universities and their students helped organize 20 million Americans to demand action. They were motivated by some very visible scars upon the Earth: smog, roadside litter, piles of industrial waste, and, infamously, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio catching fire. That enthusiasm, passion, and activism helped lead to the creation of the EPA just a few months later, and decades of investments in clean air, clean water, and clean soil infrastructure; as well as important regulations, all of which helped improve public health and the environment. The world is at another inflection point, and SUNY's students, educators, researchers, doers, and supporters have a critical role to play in the shift to cleaner energy and a more sustainable society.
"Our long-term commitment to our planet is reflected in the SUNY Climate and Sustainability Action Plan. Delivering on a commitment made last Earth Day, over the past year SUNY convened an advisory committee of over 50 experts, including College Presidents and Trustees, energy and sustainability staff, researchers and educators, as well as current students and alumni. As a result of the advisory council's work and recommendations, the SUNY leadership and Board of Trustees adopted the SUNY Climate and Sustainability Action Plan. The Action Plan set forth an ambitious objective of attaining net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and zero waste across the entire SUNY system, including targets to meet Governor Kathy Hochul's 2030 climate goals. The Action Plan includes over 150 specific recommendations for steps to take across seven key strategic areas: fostering a strong institutional commitment to climate and sustainability initiatives, educating the community about climate change and its effects, promoting research aimed at developing climate solutions, advancing green workforce development, ensuring facilities are powered by clean energy, implementing sustainable operational practices, and prioritizing inclusive engagement and climate justice.
"At SUNY, every day is Earth Day. That is because every day our highly engaged and passionate students are working to make the world a better place as they grow professionally and personally. SUNY is committed to providing our students with the experiences they need to grow into the next generation of leaders, whether it is working with a community on sustainable food systems, spearheading comprehensive composting policy, implementing campus recycling and upcycling programs, developing effective communication strategies to encourage sustainable lifestyles, working on policy at a state agency, or researching water quality in local rivers and lakes.
"SUNY is also proud of the work executed by our outstanding faculty and researchers who are leading the charge in research and development towards sustainable climate solutions and to training the green economy workforce of the future. Our campuses host world-renowned teams who are solving some of the most complex issues of the climate crisis, from innovative battery storage technology to advanced low-carbon materials, and thanks to Governor Hochul's challenge to double research, SUNY will be making investments in public climate research that will pave the way for a cleaner world. SUNY is also creating the green workforce of the future through collaborative and innovative green workforce programs, working with our partners in state government.
"As we celebrate the beautiful and dynamic world on this Earth Day, SUNY is proud of the tremendous work our students, researchers, faculty, and staff are doing to protect this planet."
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.16 billion in fiscal year 2024, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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