Leveraging interdisciplinary scholarship, community engagement and collaboration, the UC system fosters innovation in addressing the climate challenge on local, regional and global scales. 

Research

In 2023–24, the University of California awarded $83 million in California Climate Action Seed Grants and Matching Grants to 38 projects directly addressing California’s climate action priorities. These grants are active in every region of the state and collectively involve more than 130 community, industry, tribal and public agencies, as well as 12 UC locations, 11 California State University campuses and two private universities. These projects aim to provide practical solutions to a range of climate challenges, including wildfire, drought, sea level rise and extreme heat, among others. Ten of the Seed and Matching Grant projects received $20,000 Community-Engaged S/Hero Supplements to identify best practices for engaging communities around climate risks, resulting in a series of online workshops and other resources on community engagement in climate action research. The ultimate goal of this work is to build capacity for climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation across the state of California, especially for the state’s communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Photo credit: Rebecca Hernandez

Beginning in 2022, UC Research and Innovation has led the development of the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES). ARCHES is California’s public-private partnership aiming to accelerate the development and deployment of hydrogen as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels. Renewable hydrogen can provide a clean, sustainable energy solution for hard-to-decarbonize sectors such as heavy-duty trucking, power generation and port operations as California advances toward its 2045 goal of a zero-carbon economy. ARCHES was awarded $1.2 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen Hub program, with matching funds from state, municipal and corporate partners for support totalling nearly $13 billion. ARCHES is the first of seven national hydrogen hubs to sign its cooperative agreement with the DOE and receive funding. These funds will support renewable hydrogen production facilities, hydrogen fueling stations, hydrogen power plants, and hydrogen-powered zero-emission trucks and port equipment with ARCHES oversight to ensure safe operation and benefits for California’s disadvantaged communities. 

UC Natural Reserve System

In 2024, the Natural Reserve System (NRS) launched a summer Data Science Training Essentials program for low-income or first-generation college students from historically marginalized backgrounds. Full-time UC, California Community College and California State University students are eligible for the free six-week course. The training is hosted in an online computing environment that enables students to log on using a web browser rather than requiring special software. In addition to the online course component, students participate in a multi-day trip to an NRS reserve to learn field-based research techniques, such as recording wildlife with camera traps and bioacoustic devices. The hands-on experiences in the field, interwoven with training in data management and visualization, provide students with a strong foundation in data literacy while building a peer support network. The program expands a model developed by the UC Santa Barbara Office of Education Partnerships and the Smithsonian Institution that creates partnerships to support students along their educational and career trajectories.

Photo credit: Lobsang Wangdu

Education 

The University continued to expand its educational offerings related to climate change and sustainability last year. Most notably, the UC San Diego Academic Senate approved the Jane Teranes Climate Education Requirement for incoming first-year students beginning fall 2024. Students are required to complete a one-quarter course designed to empower them with the knowledge and skills needed to confront the urgent global challenge of climate change.

At the systemwide level, the UC President’s Global Climate Leadership Council funded an expansion of systemwide courses such as the Bending the Curve course platform. Through spring 2024, more than 5,500 students at UC and across the world have enrolled in the course and the textbook has been downloaded nearly 26,000 times. In collaboration with Bending the Curve, the Center for Climate, Health and Equity partnered with the American Medical Association to provide continuing medical education on climate change and health. The UC Center for Climate Justice continued expanding and adapting its materials to help students understand the growing climate justice field, and in 2024 launched the Climate Justice Faculty Network Map to facilitate community-engaged research and collaboration across the University.

Students

The University of California’s environmental sustainability goals are rooted in student activism, beginning more than two decades ago when students encouraged the Regents to approve UC’s first green building and clean energy policy, which they did in 2003. 

The UC Office of the President oversees the Bonnie Reiss Leading on Climate Student Fellowship program (previously the Climate Action and Global Food Initiative Student Fellowships). The program funds student-generated research, operational and engagement projects across all UC locations. Student fellows study climate- and food-related challenges, engage the UC community in the power of climate action and sustainable food systems, and implement solutions at UC locations and in neighboring communities. 

Fellows meet throughout the year to build leadership skills, apply an equity lens to their projects and cultivate systems of peer support — including sharing strategies to address climate anxiety. Alumni of the program, now in its 10th year, are blazing paths for new careers in climate and sustainable food systems.

Leading on Climate Fellows

78

annual fellows in 2023–24

804

total fellows since 2014

Academic Senate

The University of California’s Academic Senate carries out shared governance responsibilities established by the Regents and relating to academic matters. Academic Senate divisions continue to advance climate action and education, as the highlights below illustrate.

Engagement in UC’s Fossil Free Pathways

Systemwide Academic Senate leadership participated in the UC President’s Global Climate Leadership Council and the Pathways to a Fossil Free UC Task Force. The Pathways to a Fossil Free UC Task Force is charged with developing recommendations on the necessary steps and timelines for eliminating the use of fossil fuels in each location’s energy system. As part of that task force, Academic Senate leadership co-led an effort to help shape systemwide messaging about the University’s fossil fuel-free planning and coordinated with divisional Academic Senate chairs to encourage faculty engagement in state-funded decarbonization studies at each campus.

Campus-Level Senate Climate Crisis Committee Accomplishments

Academic Senate divisions advanced climate and sustainability activities across the University in 2023–24. Notable achievements include the following:

  • UC Berkeley’s Task Force on Climate Change endorsed a centrally administered Climate Change Certificate and recommended that departments identify sequences of climate-related classes appropriate for their majors. 
  • UCLA’s Academic Senate Executive Board endorsed several recommendations from the Campus Response to the Climate Crisis Special Committee, including incorporating climate change into UCLA curricula and research, addressing scope 2 and 3 emissions and implementing a holistic response to the climate crisis. 
  • UC Merced’s Faculty Advisory Committee on Sustainability contributed to the campus decarbonization study, refined sustainability courses, consulted on biodiversity planning, managed the Green Labs program and promoted sustainable transportation. 
  • UC Riverside’s Sustainability, Environment, and Climate Crisis Ad Hoc Committee delivered a report recommending a standing committee be established. 
  • UC San Diego’s Campus Climate Change Committee recommended a task force on green labs and computing be established, proposed a policy for research funding to be publicly disclosed, and developed opportunities for Senate participation in capital projects and space decisions. 
  • UCSF’s Committee on Sustainability continued its focus on reducing campus carbon emissions by participating in the development of UCSF’s decarbonization study, launching an effort to encourage micromobility commuting and identifying opportunities to reduce unnecessary travel, as well as supporting lab and medical waste reduction strategies.

Photo credits: Rebecca Hernandez and Lobsang Wangdu