Stanford Faculty Senate Encourages Move Toward Net-Zero Emissions

David Colin Burke guides Selby Lane, LLC, and has an extensive leadership experience in the global capital investment sphere. A guest lecturer with the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, David Colin Burke previously oversaw endowment allocations on behalf of the institution.

The Stanford Faculty Senate approved a multi-part resolution in November 2020 designed to accelerate momentum toward a target of transitioning to net-zero or negative greenhouse gas emissions across operations and endowment investments. Eighty-nine percent of senators cast affirmative votes, and the focus will now turn to transitioning endowment divestments away from fossil fuels and toward industries that are helping to achieve the emissions goals outlined in the Paris Agreement.

The Stanford Faculty Senate’s overwhelming approval came despite some senators' concerns that meeting target dates for the “at least net-zero” emissions goal was aspirational rather than concretely achievable at the pre-set time. The target date set for direct and indirect-on-campus emissions is 2030, while the “other indirect emissions” net-zero date is 2040.