Science-based targets for higher education? Evaluating alignment between Ivy+ climate action plans and the Science-Based Targets initiative’s net-zero standards

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which a sample of US-based higher education institution’s (HEI’s) climate targets and associated climate action planning efforts align with the definitions of and practices associated with science-based targets (SBTs) that are typically used to organize corporate climate efforts. This analysis will be used to explore similarities and tease out differences between how US-based HEIs and corporations approach sustainable target setting and organize sustainable action. Design/methodology/approach The degree of intersection between a sample of HEI climate action plans from Ivy Plus (Ivy+) schools and the current SBT initiative (SBTi) general corporate protocol was assessed by using an objective-oriented evaluative approach. Findings While there were some areas of overlap between HEI’s climate action planning and SBTi’s general corporate protocol – for instance, the setting of both short- and long-term targets and large-scale investments in renewable energy – significant areas of difference in sampled HEIs included scant quantitative Scope 3 targets, the use offsets to meet short-term targets and a low absolute annual reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Originality/value This paper unites diverse areas of literature on SBTs, corporate sustainability target setting and sustainability in higher education. It provides an overview of the potential benefits and disadvantages of HEIs adopting SBTs and provides recommendations for the development of sector-specific SBTi guidelines.

目的 本文的目的是评估美国部分高等教育机构（HEI）的气候目标以及相关的气候行动计划在多大程度上符合基于科学的目标（SBTs）的定义和相关实践，基于科学的目标通常用于组织企业的气候行动。该分析将用于探究美国高等教育机构和企业在设定可持续目标以及组织可持续行动方面的相似之处和差异。 设计/方法/途径 采用面向目标的评估方法，对常春藤联盟及其同等水平院校（Ivy +）的部分高等教育机构气候行动计划与当前基于科学的目标倡议（SBTi）通用企业协议之间的交叉程度进行了评估。 研究结果 虽然高等教育机构的气候行动计划与SBTi通用企业协议存在一些重叠领域——例如，设定短期和长期目标以及对可再生能源的大规模投资——但样本高等教育机构存在显著差异的领域包括：范围3的定量目标极少，使用抵消来实现短期目标，以及范围1和范围2的排放量绝对年减排量较低。 创新性/价值 本文整合了关于基于科学的目标、企业可持续性目标设定以及高等教育可持续性的不同领域的文献。它概述了高等教育机构采用基于科学的目标的潜在利弊，并为制定特定行业的SBTi指南提供了建议。