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Harvard Sets Path for Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Within 30 Years

  • Largest U.S. college endowment worth $40.9 billion as of June
  • Plan is to develop tools to monitor managers’ carbon footprint
A pedestrian is reflected in the window of a Harvard University store in Cambridge, Mass.
A pedestrian is reflected in the window of a Harvard University store in Cambridge, Mass.Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg
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Harvard University, the richest U.S. college, is vowing to work with its investment managers to create a path for “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, after years of resisting pressure to divest from fossil fuels.

Harvard will begin a multi-year process to develop a methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emissions with assistance from faculty and the endowment’s outside investment managers, the Ivy League school said Tuesday in a statement. The goal is to measure their portfolios’ emissions levels to reduce them in the endowment, which is run by Harvard Management Co.