McGill’s newly released Climate & Sustainability Annual Report testifies to the University’s continued record of achievement in those areas, in its academic research as well as its own operations.
Highlights of the year ending August 2024 include a new research chair focusing on climate solutions in the Canadian North, a LEED gold certification for the newly opened McGill University Collections Centre, and a Platinum STARS rating achieved six years ahead of schedule.
“The success described within this report reflects the efforts made by staff, students, faculty and alumni,” said François Miller, Executive Director of Sustainability. “We thank our community for its efforts to advance sustainability on McGill’s campuses and beyond.”
Here are just a handful of the past year’s accomplishments:
Advancing academics
– The new Bieler Chair in Northern Climate Change and Sustainability will lead research on solutions to the climate crisis in Canada’s northern regions.
– More than 600 courses related to sustainability, including 11 courses developed in the Sustainability Education Fellows program, were offered in 2023-34.
– A $3.75M grant from NSERC Alliance will support McGill’s role in the Global Climate Center on AI and Biodiversity Change. McGill will lead Canadian participation in this multinational partnership.
Staff and student projects
– Fifty workplaces and over 150 events were certified sustainable by the Office of Sustainability.
– Two McGill students, Alexis Infelise and Julia Wright, earned Emerald Key Awards for leading projects demonstrating outstanding dedication to advancing sustainability. Infelise led a food basket distribution project and Wright’s team grew oyster mushrooms in discarded coffee grounds.
– Thirty-five students joined the Sustainability Ambassadors Program.
Certifications
– LEED Gold certification for the McGill University Collections Centre
– Silver status for the Fair Trade Campus Certification, making McGill’s downtown campus the first campus in Quebec and the second in Canada to receive this designation
Milestones and awards
– The 15th anniversary of McGill’s Sustainability Projects Fund, the largest campus fund of its kind in in Canada.
– A Platinum STARS rating, a major sustainability milestone obtained six years ahead of schedule.
– A 13th-place ranking in QS World University Rankings: Sustainability
– A CAUBO award for Envisioning a More Sustainable McGill, an online sustainability learning module for faculty and staff
Campus highlights
– McGill installed two new electric boilers. When they are in operation, they are expected to cut 29 per cent of the downtown campus’s energy-related emissions from buildings, compared to 2022.
– McGill launched its inaugural Biodiversity Plan, and quickly identified 225 species present on its downtown, Macdonald and Gault properties.
The Office of Sustainability’s next major publication will be McGill’s Climate & Sustainability Strategy 2025-30. Expected in early 2025, it will outline a new action plan for meeting McGill’s environmental targets.
