Joint Declaration on Embracing a Living Lab Approach to Promote Carbon Neutrality

According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the window of opportunity for limiting global warming to 1.5 °C is rapidly vanishing. To collectively avoid the worst effects of climate change, there is an urgent call for implementing deep and sustained reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 also recognizes climate change as a key barrier to sustainability, and highlights the important and interconnected role climate action plays securing a sustainable future for all.

We Recognize:

1. Universities play a vital role in driving research and innovation needed for society to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
2. As institutes of knowledge creation, our unique responsibility to ambitiously advance solutions for carbon-neutral campuses will shape and contribute to a sustainable future for all.
3. In pursuit of carbon neutrality, we regard our physical campuses as “living labs” that represent a vital asset in the research and development of solutions, serving test-beds for hands-on learning and advancing applied research.
    

We Pledge to:

1. Affirm and uphold the UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
2. Create and uphold an environment that encourages hands-on research and learning by students, staff, and faculty that advance novel ideas that contribute to carbon neutrality.
3. Proactively foster diverse partnerships among campus stakeholders to promote campus-based testing and learning,
4. Share and exchange best practices in “living lab” initiatives, and embrace opportunities to embrace this approach to testing, demonstrating, and advancing research on campus that reduces greenhouse gas emissions from campus operations

HKUST VPIA Prof. Wang Yang (front row, third right) leads a Joint Declaration signed by 15 universities to promote Carbon Neutrality with a living lab approach. Representatives from Chulalongkorn University, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Taylor’s University and University of New South Wales Sydney attend the ceremony at GSDC.

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