Greenhouse Gas Emissions

As of fiscal year 2024, Yale has reduced net emissions by 28% since 2015, despite a 14% increase in campus size.

In 2020, Yale achieved its original greenhouse gas emissions goal of a 43% reduction below 2005 levels. This goal was set in alignment with the Kyoto Protocol, which prescribed a reduction of 10% below 1990 levels by 2020.

Yale is now committed to achieving zero actual carbon emissions by 2050 with an interim goal to reach net zero emissions by 2035. Our current goal boundary includes all scope 1 and 2 emissions, aligns with Climate Registry reporting, and uses a 2015 baseline. Reporting to The Climate Registry ensures comprehensive, transparent, and rigorous accounting, and requires verification by a third party.

A Global Imperative

Greenhouse gas emissions contribute to climate change, which affects human health and ecosystems, weather patterns, and sea level rise. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we can help limit the increase in global temperature, and help protect people from potentially catastrophic impacts.

Yale’s efforts help bolster the Paris Agreement, a pact by 195 nations to reduce global emissions.

Bar graph showing Yale's net campus emissions in 2015 v. 2024

How was this 28% reduction achieved?

Since 2015, Yale has built and/or renovated a large quantity of high-performance space in support of the university’s academic mission and aligned with the university’s sustainability goals.

Millions of dollars are spent each year on implementing energy mitigation measures for new or renovated buildings, and on energy-conservation specific projects and operational modifications to existing infrastructure. These are implemented specifically to reduce energy use, energy costs, and greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2024, Yale continued and expanded its wide-scale building energy monitoring system at the device level, using Automated Fault Detection and Diagnostics (AFDD). In the past year, this comprehensive process enabled our in-house staff to help identify efficiency and operational issues with building ventilation systems; make repairs in a timely manner; and ultimately save energy and avoid GHG emissions. In 2024, we prevented an additional 18,000 MMBTU of energy from being wasted.

Moving forward, we have expanded our Automated Fault Detection and Diagnostics (AFDD) monitoring system to include West Campus, and have seen increases in efficiency in the second half of fiscal year 2024.

Though gross emissions increased slightly in 2024, the university has not increased its net emissions since it met its first GHG reduction goal in 2020. To date, this has been achieved through on-campus emissions reductions and supplemented by the purchase and retirement of high-quality, verified carbon offsets.

Learn more about carbon offsets and Yale’s approach to them.