How the University of Dayton divested from fossil fuels — and what happened to its bottom line

The renewable energy company EnerWealth Solutions is helping Black farmers in the Carolinas install solar panels among their crops so they can benefit financially from the solar boom with a consistent stream of income.

A regional cap-and-trade program in the northeast United States has reduced carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and led to overall job gains in the economy. Up to 50 percent of the region’s CO2 reductions are attributable to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program and nine of the states participating report training more than 8,000 workers.

A hit TV show in the 1970s and ‘80s called The Beachcombers brought the town of Gibsons and its logging practices into homes across Canada. After years of pollution and land degradation, it became one of the first towns in the world to incorporate nature into the municipality’s finances. Developers have to take stock of what natural infrastructure is on their property before they build. The town also launched an initiative to encourage other places to calculate the value of their green infrastructure. So far, 30 of them have signed up across the Great White North.

The Yurok Tribe is tackling climate change through the use of a carbon-offset program, sustainable forestry principles, watershed and river recovery methods, and even beaver restoration practices. Over the years, the Indigenous community has worked to restore their territory using sustainable land management initiatives and because of their efforts, they were awarded the Equator Prize from the United Nations Development Programme in 2019.

To protect the Mesoamerican Reef from the effects of climate change, key stakeholders in Mexico created the world’s first insurance policy to protect a natural asset. The policy provides an immediate infusion of cash in the event of a damaging storm, allowing hotel owners and local governments to quickly repair the reef and prevent further degradation. A volunteer corps of people called the Guardians of the Reef make those repairs. While the insurance policy doesn’t cover pollution or overfishing, this mechanism could work for reefs in other countries to restore and protect threatened ecosystems.

Indigo Agriculture, an ag-tech startup, is looking to pay farmers to draw carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the ground, which could help mitigate the effects of climate change and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Other companies that want to offset their own emissions can purchase credits on a carbon exchange. While the market hasn’t opened yet and some experts are skeptical about how much carbon the soil will absorb, Indigo Agriculture has signed up more than 5,000 farmers representing 19.8 million acres of land.

Enrolling administrators and financial planners in sustainable projects takes proving that investments pay for themselves. With the help of pressure from students and faculty, Penn State Universities administrators have adopted a long-term strategy to reduce the university’s carbon footprint and implement sustainable practices. Students produced the data that illuminated the university’s unsustainable practices; the numbers now show that their efforts are paying off.

Samsø, a small island in Denmark, has done what no other city has reached; energy independence. People on the island use a combination of wind, solar, and biomass, energy. How is such a large feat accomplished? Local leaders say it wasn’t because of technological breakthrough, but through collective action.

In Salt Lake City, a bipartisan coalition of public and private actors, including members of the business, industrial, religious, political, and civic communities voluntarily came together to pass an ambitious twenty year land use plan. The plan, which conserves water, promotes clean air, and imposes new taxes for new rail lines, was made possible by Envision Utah, a public-private partnership that capitalizes on many Utahns' cultural and religious heritage.

LuMin, a Lutheran ministry organization, provides subsidized rooms to college students struggling with housing insecurity. Though the program can only accommodate a fraction of applicants, students who have received housing say it has enabled them to focus on their studies rather than on making ends meet.