All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Technology, Education, Research and Rehabilitation for the Environment (TERRE) took a voluntary pledge along with the Vice-Chancellors of 12 affiliated universities to develop a roadmap to achieve carbon-neutrality in the campuses in an event named ‘Not Zero Net Zero’ on the anniversary of Paris Climate agreement. They have aimed to eliminate carbon footprints in the campuses by 2040-75.
The event was organized by TERRE under its global network of universities and Colleges-Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN). The AICTE-TERRE project is focused on the decarbonization of the economy. The professors recognized the need to achieve the goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement signed on December 12, 2015, to limit the global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.
Inaugurating the event Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of All India Council of Higher Technical Institutes (AICTE) lauded the catalytic efforts of TERRE in getting key and strategically positioned universities and institutes for united actions. “Movement of Net Zero carbon emission will spread faster when its seeds are sown in university campuses’, Dr. Sahasrabudhe.
The Vice-Chancellors of SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Tamil Nadu, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Jammu and Kashmir, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education in Kanyakumari, Royal Global University in Assam, MIT-ADT university in urban Maharashtra, ManavRachana University in Haryana, and Nanasaheb Mahadik College of Engineering in rural Maharashtra took a joint pledge to decarbonize their university campuses.
The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Far West also joined in the online event to show support towards the initiative.
