• People

Universities in the U.K. and U.S. Under Increasing Pressure to Do Better on Climate Change

• #HarvardForward
• Board of Overseers
• climate change
• Harvard
• Yale Forward

Universities across the UK are finding themselves under “increasing pressure to improve their own environmental track record,” The Guardian reported last week. Because of pressure from students, in January, one-half of universities in the UK announced they would divest from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, in a victory that no one expected them to pull off when they began their campaign a year ago, three of the five young alums who ran under the Harvard Forward banner were elected to the university’s second-highest governing body, the Board of Overseers.

Why This Matters: We need to keep our foot on the gas. While it’s wonderful to see so much action in the UK on these issues, many say it’s not far enough.

• People

One Cool Thing: Greening the Ivies

• #climatechange
• #HarvardForward
• #YaleForward
• Columbia Earth Institute
• Columbia University

Ivy League Universities are making strides on climate action. Last week, Columbia University announced it is creating a new school within the University dedicated to the issue of climate change.  The University will draw on its Earth Institute (EI) and network of Global Centers in countries around the world.  And the election for the Harvard Board of Overseers is underway — with the five Harvard Forward climate change-focused young candidates working to “get out the vote.”

• Climate Change

University Divestment Movement Grows – Cornell and UC System Are Latest Wins

• #HarvardForward
• #YaleForward
• climate change
• Cornell University
• divestment
• fossil fuels
• University of California

Cornell University’s Board of Trustees announced on Friday that the University will make no new investments in fossil fuels, and it is believed that they have been divesting of their previous investments for several years, though the details of their endowment are not public. 

Why This Matters:  The climate movement has been led by young people and one easy focus of their activism is the universities they attend.

• People

One Cool Thing: Thanks to YOU, Harvard Forward Reaches Signature Goal

• #FriendofthePlanet
• #FriendsofthePlanet
• #HarvardForward
• diversity
• divest
• Harvard University

We wanted to give a shout out to all the #FriendsofthePlanet who signed the Harvard Forward petition or nudged a friend or family member to do it!  We were one of the first publications to give them media coverage and raise the profile of their campaign to get enough signatures to put five candidates on the […]