Climate action at UB—by the numbers

Matthew Taboni repackaging unused food.

Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

With its updated climate action plan, UB aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030—and it’s going to take all of us in the School of Management and across the university to get there. Here are a few recent highlights in UB’s quest to achieve that goal.

No. 1

In its latest impact rankings, Times Higher Education ranked UB No. 1 out of 1,101 universities worldwide for good health and well-being—a key component of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

No. 2

On the same ranking, UB was No. 2 for climate action out of all U.S. schools.

5,000

Since April 2021, UB’s Food Recovery Network—founded by JD/MBA student Matthew Taboni, pictured above—has recovered 5,000 pounds of food from UB dining halls and redistributed it to a local food pantry.

$4.5 million

Aditya Vedantam, assistant professor, is a partner in the New York State Center for Plastic Recycling Research and Innovation at UB, established with a $4.5 million state grant last spring.

225 million

Every year, UB uses nearly 225 million kilowatt hours of solar and wind power, ranking fifth nationally in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership ratings.