Janet Napolitano, the president of the University of California, has made it clear that the school system believes in the "moral imperative" of reducing carbon footprint from human activity.
During a two-day summit on climate change held at UC San Diego on Tuesday, Oct. 27, the UC chief vowed to transform 10 of the system's campuses into living laboratories where researchers can formulate solutions that will then be raised to state, national and global levels.
Climate experts have come together to discuss plans of action that they hope the United States and international governments would consider in order to address the issue of global warming. These include requiring the richest one billion of the world to reduce their carbon footprint.
The blueprint from the San Diego conference is set to be presented at the upcoming climate conference in Paris to be held next month.
Officials from the University of California say the impact of global warming could be significantly limited by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the air such as methane by half and black carbon by as much as 90 percent throughout the next 15 years.
The UC plan highlights the need for have the wealthiest to reduce their carbon emissions dramatically while making green sources of energy more accessible to the poorest and disadvantaged three billion people of the world.
UC researchers have also asked leaders of religious organizations to foster a culture of change to help tackle global warming.
"Addressing these challenges and reducing our carbon footprint is a moral imperative," Napolitano pointed out.
The UC chief added that by the time the university system has achieved its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025, governments seeking potential solutions to climate change would look back to the San Diego conference and study what the University of California was able to do.
The University of California has reportedly closed a deal to purchase 80 megawatts worth of solar energy, which would make it the largest such transaction made by a university in the United States.
The university system has also pledged to invest $1 billion for the creation of renewable energy and other similar solutions to global warming throughout the next five years.
UC scientists estimate that if global carbon emissions are reduced by as much 80 percent by the year 2050, it could significantly limit the adverse effects of changing climate by 25 years.
Photo: Medill DC | Flickr
