Zero Carbon Program: A Legacy for a Sustainable Environment and for Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Climate change is one of the biggest global concerns for scientists. Efforts to limit global temperature are still incipient. In Brazil, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can play a central role in achieving these efforts. In this sense, the objective is to show the Legacy of the Zero Carbon Program of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) for society, science and environment, in 10 years of operation, with a main focus on the ecosystem service related to carbon off-set. A description of the history, emergence and organizational structure of Zero Carbon Program (CZP) was made, based on research carried out over 10 years of activity in the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. Five main methodological axes have been described to determine the current legacy of the program: (A) GHG Inventory during the Farmer’s Week (FW) at the UFV; (B) GHG neutralization during FW; (C) Development of GHG quantification and neutralization systems; (D) Collection of bibliographic data developed by the CZP; and (E) Survey of sensitized public. The results of the CZP showed that: 4,162 people became aware of the topic of climate change at and 26,186 people at other events; and those 63 scientific studies related were published. A total of 490.64 tCO2eq. GHG emissions were raised during the FW-UFV. Approximately 4,660 trees were planted in a degraded area in southeastern Brazil as a way to neutralize GHG from the event. The CZP presents opportunities for gains from ecosystem services related to responsive carbon management provided to different social actors.