Climate change represents an existential threat to our country and world. It is impossible to ignore the impact that CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases are having across the globe. Since our last update to the Penn community, two new reports by the United Nations confirm the influence of human activity in accelerating climate change and current carbon cutting plans from various nations are woefully insufficient in aggregate to meet the 1.5C degree temperature threshold.

Penn has long been committed to combatting climate change, and we take great pride in the important contributions the University has been able to make through our research, educational efforts, on-campus operations, and investment strategies. As an institution, we have made our Climate and Sustainability Action Plan goals a top priority, and we also recognize that our plans must be dynamic and adaptable so that we can keep pace with the rapidly evolving challenges of climate change. In that light, we write today to share with you new initiatives—consistent with our research and education missions—to further our leadership role in addressing the effects that climate change is having on our world.

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