Measurable progress in campus sustainability goals
An FY25 progress report highlights achievements on the goals of the University's Climate & Sustainability Action Plan 4.0 on campus and beyond.
12/3/2025
News & Announcements
Stay up to date on University Announcements and Penn-related news concerning sustainability and climate action.
Climate Change & Sustainability News
Understanding the climate record through objects
Melissa Charenko’s new book shares the history of how 20th-century scientists used climate proxies’—such as tree rings and fossil pollen—to understand past climates, which has implications for future climate action.
11/20/2025
A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise
For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.
11/4/2025
Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?
In the shadowy layers of the Pacific, microbes decide how much nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas—rises skyward. New research from Penn’s Xin Sun offers an improved understanding of microbial ecology and geochemistry—key to forecasting global emissions in response to natural and man-made climate change.
10/20/2025
Sanya Carley appointed vice provost for climate science, policy, and action
Carley is an expert on energy policy, affordability, and transition.
10/20/2025
Taylor Swift, storytelling, and climate communication
Clean energy expert and senior research fellow at Penn Joseph Romm says that Taylor Swift’s lyrics offer storytelling techniques that can be applied for impact-driven climate communications.
10/10/2025
A world shaped by water and access
Griffin Pitt’s upbringing made her passionate about water access and pollution, and Penn has given her the opportunity to explore these issues back home in North Carolina and abroad.
10/8/2025
A guide to Climate Week 2025
Taking place Oct. 13 to 17, Penn’s sixth Climate Week includes dozens of in-person and virtual events that cross disciplines, from energy policy and history to engineering and medicine.
10/7/2025
Students test one way to combat extreme heat in Philadelphia
Third-year students Nafisa Bangura and Angelica Dadda expanded upon a multidisciplinary research endeavor to evaluate a reflective pavement coating as a tool to mitigate extreme heat. Their work may inform policy efforts to improve urban heat resilience.
9/29/2025
A summer in the tick trenches
With the help of five Penn undergrads, biology professor Dustin Brisson’s research group collected 9,000 tick specimens this summer to understand how seasonal activity patterns of these arachnids affects human pathogens and what role a changing climate might play.
9/23/2025
In the News
The Wall Street Journal
It’s getting harder to figure out whether you live in a flood zone or not
A Wharton School study found that homes damaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 were far less likely to default if they were inside the federal flood zone.
11/9/2025
Los Angeles Times
Bill Gates doesn’t regret his controversial climate memo
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says, “We don’t have decades to address the climate crisis.”
11/5/2025
The Independent
Category 6 is the new hurricane normal, scientists warn
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that it no longer makes sense to artificially cap the hurricane scale at five while wind-based metrics continue to be used.
11/3/2025
Huffington Post
Bill Gates claims climate change won’t destroy humanity after all
Micheal Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses Bill Gates’ shift in rhetoric on climate.
10/28/2025
Technology Networks
Have carbon offsets failed over the past 25 years?
Joseph Romm of the School of Arts & Sciences conducted research on the effectiveness of carbon offsetting to date, concluding the practice is ineffective and riddled with “intractable” problems.
10/13/2025
NPR
Dr. Peter Hotez takes the war against science very personally
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences has co-authored a new book on the anti-science movement.
9/10/2025
WBUR Boston
‘Science Under Siege’ book details ideological attacks on science
“Science Under Siege,” a new book co-authored by Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences, details what the public and scientific community can do to counter politically and ideologically motivated attacks on science.
9/9/2025
Dezeen
KlimaKover pavilion demonstrates "low-energy cooling" for outdoor heat relief
The Thermal Architecture Lab from the Weitzman School of Design installed a modular pavilion on Governors Island in New York that radiates cool air for an air conditioning alternative in public spaces.
9/6/2025
CNN
This is the summer of flooding across the U.S., and scientists know why
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that increased instances of flooding are attributable to human-caused climate warming.
7/20/2025
Live Science
We’re within three years of reaching a critical climate threshold. Can we reverse course?
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that it’s cheaper, easier, and more effective to curb carbon emissions now than to reverse a temperature rise that has already happened.
7/19/2025
Measurable progress in campus sustainability goals
An FY25 progress report highlights achievements on the goals of the University's Climate & Sustainability Action Plan 4.0 on campus and beyond.
12/3/2025
Where water meets artificial intelligence
As part of the new Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence collaboration, The Water Center at Penn is helping answer key questions around technology and sustainability.
11/3/2025
The making of Weitzman Hall
As the Weitzman School of Design prepared to open its first new building in more than 50 years, members of the design, preservation, and construction teams were highlighted in a series of conversations about the making of Stuart Weitzman Hall.
10/24/2025
Craig Roncace puts his green thumb to work
As Penn’s urban park manager, Craig Roncace leads a versatile team in charge of outdoor maintenance, waste management, and sustainability initiatives across campus.
10/9/2025
A guide to Climate Week 2025
Taking place Oct. 13 to 17, Penn’s sixth Climate Week includes dozens of in-person and virtual events that cross disciplines, from energy policy and history to engineering and medicine.
10/7/2025
Applying design to agriculture for a new approach to agroforestry
Penn researchers are leading a multidisciplinary land-use project that blends trees, livestock, and streamside buffers to turn New Bolton Center into a living lab for stewardship agriculture.
10/2/2025
Students test one way to combat extreme heat in Philadelphia
Third-year students Nafisa Bangura and Angelica Dadda expanded upon a multidisciplinary research endeavor to evaluate a reflective pavement coating as a tool to mitigate extreme heat. Their work may inform policy efforts to improve urban heat resilience.
9/29/2025
Penn buildings achieve LEED certifications, showcasing commitment to sustainability
Three recent building projects at the University of Pennsylvania have earned LEED Platinum, Gold, and Silver certifications, underscoring Penn’s ongoing commitment to sustainable design and construction.
9/11/2025
Frank Chen: Mapping smarter tree placement in Philadelphia
Weitzman School of Design graduate student Frank Chen provides insight into his project to find the best spots to plant street trees and optimize shade coverage for pedestrians in Philadelphia.
9/5/2025
A survey of summer construction progress across campus
Ahead of Move-In and the start of a new academic year, construction teams mark milestones in vital renovations and maintenance across the University.
8/14/2025
Sustainability in the News
Billy Penn
This app makes recycling bigger items work for students, colleges and businesses
Nina Morris of the sustainability office discusses reduction of campus move-out waste.
11/4/2025
The Washington Post
He got an entire country running on clean energy. Can he do it again?
Angela Pachon of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy in the Weitzman School of Design comments on the importance of a track record when advocating for sustainable energy.
9/21/2025
Associated Press
In a reversal, plans for U.S. natural gas power grow, complicating progress on climate
John Quigley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the construction of every new natural gas plant is a setback for climate goals.
2/27/2025
CalMatters
California’s controversial new fuel rules rejected by state legal office
A report by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design predicted that fuel standard changes in California could increase the cost of gas by 85 cents a gallon through 2030.
2/20/2025
Inside Climate News
As California pushes increased ethanol use, experts sound the alarm on environmental impacts
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the negative impacts of biofuels on land are difficult to overstate.
12/2/2024
Philadelphia Citizen
Penn bets big on green
Penn’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan outlines the University’s efforts to combat climate change during the next five years.
11/27/2024
WHYY (Philadelphia)
Climate policy under a second Trump presidency
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses how much a president can do or undo when it comes to environmental policy.
11/14/2024
Salon.com
Exxon CEO wants Trump to stay in Paris climate accord
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences voices his concern about the possibility that the U.S. could become a petrostate.
11/13/2024
Associated Press
Amid Earth’s heat records, scientists report another bump upward in annual carbon emissions
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that total carbon emissions including fossil fuel pollution and land use changes such as deforestation are basically flat because land emissions are declining.
11/12/2024
The Wall Street Journal
How can we remove carbon from the air? Here are a few ideas
Jennifer Wilcox of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the carbon-removal potential of forestation can’t always be reliably measured in terms of how much removal and for how long.
11/10/2024
University Announcements
A message about Penn’s endowment and sustainability
November 29, 2022
The world gathering in Egypt for COP27 reminds us of the urgency of our collective fight against climate change. Faculty, student, and staff attendees from Penn represent the energy and talent that so many Penn community members contribute to this crucial effort.
Update on Endowment Net-Zero Goal
March 02, 2022
In April 2021, the Office of Investments set a goal of reducing the net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions associated with the endowment’s investments to zero by 2050. Since then, we have collaborated with Penn’s Investment Board to develop a framework for achieving net zero.
A message to the Penn community on combating climate change
April 07, 2021
Combating climate change is one of the paramount challenges of our time. We write today to update the University community on a significant new initiative that Penn is undertaking.