Climate Commitment Action Plan 2024

CCAP 2024 cover

Thank you for your interest in the UIC Climate Commitment Action Plan 2024 (CCAP 2024).

The final plan is the result of many months of thoughtful consideration and collaboration between Planning, Sustainability and Project Management (PSPM), the university's national partners and members of the UIC community who provided important input.

Read the plan

Overview Heading link

UIC has been a leader in sustainability in higher education for more than 15 years.

The university adopted its first Climate Action Plan in 2009 and followed with related policies. These strategies were combined in 2018 with an added emphasis on the importance of implementation.  The result was UIC’s 2018 Climate Action Implementation Plan (CAIP). The 2018 CAIP predicted the need to update and revise the plan every five years to employ SMART goals, engage stakeholders and develop an actionable roadmap to achieve UIC’s climate commitments by 2050.

Planning, Sustainability and Project Management (PSPM) began this task in 2023. Many important aspects of sustainability have emerged since 2018, including a broader societal recognition of the importance of racial and environmental justice when considering solutions to the climate crisis.

Read the plan to learn about how you can help UIC take meaningful steps to achieve its climate commitment goals.

Project mission statement Heading link

Campus green space

The updated Climate Commitment Action Plan (CCAP 2024) is the University of Illinois Chicago’s roadmap to achieving a just climate future for our campus, city and beyond. It was developed through an equitable and inclusive process, leveraging both the university’s Strategic Priorities and its unique position to advance climate action.

Therefore, the plan does the following:

  • Leads with Action. It establishes clear policies, funding and accountability for embedding climate action throughout the institution. It sets clear expectations, including guidance on an achievable timeline, realistic financial implications and clearly outlined roles and responsibilities. The plan aligns operations with the chancellor’s five climate commitments to become a carbon neutral, zero waste, net zero water, biodiverse and transformative scholarship university.
  • Inspires Commitment. The plan ensures that addressing the climate crisis is a top and lasting priority for the University of Illinois Chicago in terms of research, teaching, operations and culture.
  • Transforms Scholarship. It embeds climate action teaching, learning, and research throughout the university.