The University of Toronto Mississauga has taken a bold step in addressing climate change. Through its Climate Positive Plan, UTM is committed to not only achieving carbon neutrality by 2043, but also becoming climate positive by 2050. This involves reducing the university's environmental footprint while also creating a net positive impact.
The plan lays out three key areas - energy consumption, energy distribution, and energy production - through which the university will achieve these goals. The ultimate goal is not just to reduce, but to actively remove more greenhouse gases than the university emits, in pursuit of a climate-positive status.
Achieving Climate Positive
In 2021, U of T’s St. George campus released a Climate Positive Campus Plan which commits to reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than it emits, creating a net emissions benefit. Similarly, this Plan supersedes the LCAP, reducing emissions by 39 per cent by 2030, and achieving climate positive by 2050.
Project SHIFT
Project SHIFT outlines UTM's plan to complete deep energy retrofits in the Central Utilities Plant (CUP) – including electrification, steam to hot water conversion, controls optimization, and energy storage. The retrofits will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 6,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Read more about Project SHIFT.
