Sustainability has been a longstanding value of the college, most recently reinforced by its integration in the key priorities identified in the Strategic Plan. During the 2025-2026 academic year, Lafayette underwent a planning process to update our Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2.0 with new strategies to reach our commitment to carbon neutrality by 2035. We had deep and meaningful engagement with our campus community, as well as local partners and our alumni.
To read the plan that culminated from this engagement, research and data collection, visit the Climate Action Plan 3.0 webpage.
During 2025-2026, Lafayette embarked on the exciting process of creating CAP 3.0.
See how the community participated in the planning process and progress towards the development of Climate Action Plan 3.0
Session Dates & Materials
See how real time feedback was collected for Climate Action Plan 3.0
Feedback MaterialsA CAP is a strategic plan that outlines how an organization will reduce greenhouse gasses and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
With support from passionate students, faculty and staff, Lafayette has been advancing sustainability initiatives for decades. In 2008 President Dan Weiss pledged that Lafayette College would address climate change by signing the President’s Climate Commitment and initiating the development of Lafayette’s Climate Action Plan 1.0, which led to the College setting a goal of a 60% reduction in emissions relative to 2007 levels by 2039. Since then, the College completed a campus-wide energy audit, established an Office of Sustainability in 2016, and in 2019, developed the Climate Action Plan 2.0 for reaching carbon neutrality by 2035. Lafayette releases a Campus Sustainability Report yearly, which tracks progress towards our climate, waste, academic and programmatic goals detailed in the Climate Action Plan.
Lafayette’s CAP 2.0 lays out the college commitments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 and divert 40% of waste away from landfill by 2030 and 60% by 2035. Our current greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by 39% from the 2007 baseline and 26% of campus waste is being diverted from the landfill. You can read about current progress in the 2024-2025 Campus Sustainability Report. For more information and previous Sustainability Reports visit https://sustainability.lafayette.edu/about-us/commitments/
Lafayette is proud to have been the first college in the Lehigh Valley to set a climate commitment and continues to hold the most aggressive goal in the region. With the 5 year window since the development of CAP 2.0 coming to a close, it was time to thoroughly assess progress and opportunities for climate action and waste reduction on campus to meet our goals. In the College’s first CAP, we agreed to conduct an annual inventory of its greenhouse gas emissions and re-evaluate its CAP every five years. We are excited to celebrate the achievements to date that are a testament to hard work being accomplished across the college in interdisciplinary and cross-departmental efforts, and to find further diversified solutions to reduce campus emissions.
In the 2026-2027 academic year, Lafayette embarked on the exciting process of creating CAP 3.0 and we wanted the campus and local community to be a part of it. Sessions in the fall and spring were opportunities to learn about the process, timeline for CAP 3.0 development, and to help us sculpt a stakeholder engagement and feedback plan for the project. The plan was be sculpted with feedback from students, faculty, staff, alumni and the local community.
The CAP is informed by both the Strategic and Campus Master Plans as the recommendations must align with college infrastructure, energy, culture, and community. The CAP may provide insight into how the Strategic and Campus Master Plans come to fruition in the context of our climate commitments. The CAP is a separate strategic framework that builds on and contributes to existing initiatives.
Lafayette College has engaged ERM Consulting to guide us through this process assessing current efforts and providing recommendations for CAP 3.0.
Do you have general questions or comments about the Climate Action Plan and process? Email sustainability@lafayette.edu.
