Under the Paris Agreement, the world has pledged to limit global temperature increases with the aim of avoiding the worst potential impacts of unmitigated global warming. This goal will require a major societal transformation, leading to the rapid elimination of greenhouse gas emissions. We, as individuals in the Concordia community, have a key role to play in this transition, by decreasing our own personal carbon emissions, seeking to encourage others in our networks to do the same, and advocating for institutional and government action to accelerate the energy transition.

Here, we propose a Concordia specific public engagement project: #PledgeToLead, in which we will build and promote a new tool to help individuals on campus fulfill personal carbon pledges that are in line with international climate goals. Via an accessible and shareable website, we will build a community of people willing to adopt a pledge to reduce their emissions by a given amount. Acting as a source of motivation and resources, as well as an interactive online community, our proposed web platform will illustrate how sustainable lifestyle choices tangibly impact our planet and our lives. We will make the case for ambitious individual and collective climate action, and provide the resources for how to get there. Ultimately, we hope to demonstrate that people have both the will and ability to adopt and implement personal targets that are compatible with the global effort to avoid the worst potential impacts of global climate change.