Carbon Neutrality

Pomona College gates

CN2030

Pomona College is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, eliminating net greenhouse gas emissions from heating and cooling buildings, air travel and daily commuting. While we’ve made significant progress, reaching this goal requires continued innovation, bold action and collective commitment.

Our Carbon Footprint

Pomona College established its emissions inventory in the 2010 Sustainability Action Plan, focusing on areas where the College has direct responsibility and reliable data access.

Pomona's greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory includes the following categories:

Scope 1
Direct Campus Emissions
Scope 2
Purchased Electricity Emissions
Scope 3
Indirect Emissions
  • Natural Gas
  • Refrigerants & Chemicals
  • Campus Fleet Diesel & Gasoline
  • On-campus Solar
  • Fertilizer
  • Animals
  • Electricity
  • Purchased Renewable Energy
  • College-funded Air Travel (includes Study Away and Athletics)
  • Staff & Faculty Commuting
  • Fuel- and Energy-Related Activities (FERA)
  • Transportation & Distribution (T&D) Losses from purchased electricity
  • Solid Waste (landfill, mulch, e-waste, recycling, and compost)
  • Paper Purchases

Pomona's GHG inventory is consistent with those of other higher education institutions. However, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's Corporate Standard includes several categories that Pomona does not currently account for: 

  • Other purchased goods and services, such as food and furniture
  • Capital goods, such as buildings, major renovations, vehicles, and large equipment purchases
  • Upstream transportation and distribution of purchased goods other than electricity
  • Ground travel for employees or students
  • Student travel to/from home
  • Investments

To see emissions trends, please view our SAVE Annual Report.

Our Strategy

Pomona College prioritizes reducing on-campus emissions as the primary path to carbon neutrality. However, some emissions—such as those from air travel for research, conferences and study abroad—are essential to Pomona’s mission. To address these, the College will invest in high-quality carbon credits to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

  1. Efficiency: Upgrade equipment, technology and buildings to reduce energy demand.
  2. Operations: Optimize building use and promote sustainable behaviors.
  3. On-Site Renewables: Expand small-scale renewable energy projects on campus.
  4. Off-Site Renewables & Offsets: Invest in large-scale renewable energy and verified carbon offset projects.

This holistic approach fosters innovation, responsibility and impact, driving meaningful environmental and social change for our campus and beyond.

Carbon Offset Purchasing Policy

In 2022, the Board of Trustees’ Facilities and Environment Committee formed a CN2030 subcommittee to develop a strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. The subcommittee recommended prioritizing on-campus decarbonization before purchasing high-quality carbon credits to offset unavoidable emissions, with a long-term goal of reducing reliance on offsets. To guide the selection of high-quality credits, the subcommittee established a Carbon Offset Policy based on key values, criteria and preferences.

Values

  1. Prioritize operational changes before relying on offsets.
  2. Maintain transparency in emissions and offset reporting.
  3. Purchase only high-quality offsets.
  4. Reduce long-term dependence on offsets.

Carbon Offset Selection Criteria

  1. Registered with a third party and rated highly.
  2. Meets high-quality standards for additionality, leakage and permanence.
  3. Ensures accurate crediting.

Preferences

  1. Supports or enhances academic experiences.
  2. Provides social, environmental and economic co-benefits.
  3. Ensures portfolio diversity.

This policy ensures Pomona’s offset strategy aligns with integrity, impact and long-term sustainability goals.

Carbon Credit Inventory

The Sustainability Office has launched a new, optional program that invites departments to offset their air travel emissions through the purchase of high-quality carbon credits. This initiative helps Pomona College better understand the voluntary carbon market, strengthen our offset purchasing guidelines, and engage our community in climate action as we work toward our 2030 carbon neutrality goal.

Through our partnership with Second Nature, Pomona uses Calyx Global’s independent ratings system to ensure that all carbon credits come from third-party verified, high-integrity projects around the world.

To promote transparency, we’ve listed all of Pomona’s retired carbon offset purchases below.

Fiscal Year 2025

DepartmentCarbon Offset ProjectAmount Purchased (Metric Tonnes)
Admissions OfficeTradewater: Refrigerant Destruction167.46 
Admissions OfficeReforestation (Sheep Creek, Selcoth Burn, Corriechuillie)8.35 
Admissions OfficeKOKO: Clean Cookstoves in Kenya4.64 
Admissions OfficeGrassroots Carbon: Regenerative Grazing1.36 
Admissions OfficeSunCulture: Solar Water Pumps1.13 
Advancement OfficeTradewater: Refrigerant Destruction172.00 
International and Domestic Programs OfficeTradewater: Refrigerant Destruction1,076.00 
 TOTAL1,430.94 

Fiscal Year 2024

DepartmentCarbon Offset ProjectAmount Purchased (Metric Tonnes)
Admissions OfficeTradewater: Refrigerant Destruction229.40 
Admissions OfficeTradewater: Plugging Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells3.03 
Admissions OfficeKOKO: Clean Cookstoves in Kenya16.49 
Admissions OfficeSheep Creek: Reforestation16.41 
International and Domestic Programs OfficeTradewater: Refrigerant Destruction434.60 
International and Domestic Programs OfficeTradewater: Plugging Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells872.00 
 TOTAL1,571.93 

Fiscal Year 2023

DepartmentCarbon Offset ProjectAmount Purchased (Metric Tonnes)
International and Domestic Programs OfficeTradewater: Refrigerant Destruction266.05