Although the attention surrounding Oberlin’s switch to carbon neutrality has largely dissipated, the city’s drive toward sustainability is still in the works. Perhaps the city’s largest accomplishment to date is its designation as the first North American city to become a Climate Positive Participant, a title given by the Climate Positive Development Program.

Started by C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative in 2009, the CPDP promotes large-scale development projects that aim to drive economic growth, meet sustainability targets and fully eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. According to the CPDP website, the program was founded on the notion that climate change reform must match the rapid increase of urbanization.

“Last year, for the first time, half the world’s population lived in cities,” the website states. “That figure is expected to grow to 70 percent by 2050. Current urban development patterns will not sustain the projected growth: They must be reinvented.”

Once accepted into the program, each city receives a specific framework that outlines four stages and ensures that cities integrate the Climate Positive goal into their development plans. Each framework takes into account the distinct economic, political and climate challenges of the individual city. After a city has completed the fourth phase, it should effectively produce a net-zero worth of greenhouse gas emissions.

As of last year, Oberlin has officially reached the second stage of its predetermined framework, rendering it the first city in North America to have submitted a strategy. To date, four other cities have achieved the status of Climate Positive Participant: Sydney, Australia; Mel- bourne, Australia; London, United Kingdom and Sonderborg, Denmark.

The city of Oberlin aims to reach climate positivity by 2050.

The Oberlin Project, which ensured that the city became a Climate Positive Participant, was founded by Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College David Orr to help the city reach its goal of full-spectrum sustainability.

“The Oberlin Project is helping to implement strategies focused on areas where we have some leverage, such as food and housing,” said David Gard, executive director of the Oberlin Project.

The project is funded by a number of non-profit foundations dedicated to environmentalism, such as the Kresge Fund, the Joyce Founda- tion, the Gund Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation. The project is specifically involved with the C40 Cities Climate Leader- ship Group, which provides it with resources such as informative webinars, conference calls and connections to other cities attempting to reduce their own environmental impact.

As a direct extension of this relationship, representatives from ProjectZero in Sonderborg, Denmark, visited Oberlin earlier this month in order to share their own experiences as Climate Positive Participants. During the meeting, the representatives told students and faculty what practices and initiatives have worked for them and how they can learn from each other’s experience to reach their goals in the most efficient way possible.

Despite the support that it has received along the way, the sustainability initiative is still expected to encounter several obstacles.

“People are naturally wired for short-term thinking,” Gard said. “We pay most attention to what’s right in front of us and tend to neglect longer-term, important issues.”

As of now, the College is set to reduce its emissions of carbon and similar greenhouse gases to approximately 7,000 metric tons by 2025, though it has pledged to reduce emissions to zero. This shortcoming is due in part to the College’s decision not to invest in global projects using existing voluntary carbon markets.

“[The College wants to] keep sustainability investments within the greater Oberlin com- munity,” said Tani Colbert-Sangree, OC ’13, and carbon management fellow of the Carbon Management Fund.

While Colbert-Sangree’s position as carbon management fellow is supported by the Oberlin Project, the funding for the projects he is working on comes from a waivable semesterly fee on the term bill added to the previously existing GreenEDGE Fund Fee. Sixty-five percent of the student body voted in favor of adopting this monetary addition in order to offset car- bon emissions from student transportation to and from campus. This additional $10 fee is expected to raise approximately $25,000 a year to be used toward local offset projects.

One of the Carbon Management Fund’s additional initiatives is to reforest 20 acres of land north of the North Fields solar array in order to absorb some of the remaining carbon output of the College and nearby areas.

In Professor John Petersen’s Systems Ecol- ogy course, students gathered data from the ad- jacent 55-year-old forest, whose species makeup is anticipated to be akin to the new forest that has been planted. The students found that the adjacent forest absorbs approximately 120 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Assistant Professor of Geology Amanda Schmidt’s course is another example of CMF providing research projects for students. One group of students in Applied Geographic Information Systems analyzed the soil of Lorain County to begin the process of creating a carbon soil map. This map allows people like Colbert-Sangree to focus their carbon-reducing efforts on zones that have greater capability to absorb carbon and accurately measure carbon removed from the atmosphere by these carbon offset projects.

According to Gard, some of the changes the Oberlin community can expect to see by 2050 are more farmers growing fruits and vegetables and raising livestock; more community and home gardens; a greater presence of energy- efficient buildings; fewer cars on the road; more alternative, environmentally friendly forms of transportation; a more vibrant local economy and lower unemployment rate; and a more waste-conscious mindset.