Annual Report on Sustainable Practices

In keeping with the University of California's commitment to accountability and transparency, an annual report is presented to the Board of Regents and shared with the UC community each January. The annual report includes UC's progress toward meeting the goals in the Policy on Sustainable Practices (pdf) as well as sustainability achievements in education, research, investments and public service.

View the full 2025 Annual Report on Sustainable Practices.

Highlights from the 2025 Annual Report on Sustainable Practices include:

• Stories about sustainable innovations. For example, UCSF successfully transitioned to multiuse anesthesia breathing circuits, devices that deliver oxygen and anesthesia gases to patients during surgery. UC Santa Barbara teams are working to deploy new cost-saving technology that reduces CO2 emissions in the maritime shipping industry. Students at UC Merced are digging into technological innovations at the campus’s largest laboratory, the Experimental Smart Farm. Breakthroughs such as these can be found across sectors, from food to construction and beyond, spanning all locations. 
• UC’s climate leadership and action for a fossil-free future. The systemwide Pathways to a Fossil-Free UC Task Force compiled the results of State-funded energy system decarbonization studies, completed in fall 2024. Following the submission of those studies, UC locations adopted local targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% no later than 2045, along with interim targets for scope 1 reductions. 
• Recognition of UC’s continued achievements in energy efficiency, including annual cost savings of $100 million as a result of energy efficiency and green building practices.
• UC ranked first among colleges and universities when it comes to green electricity use, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The UC Annual Sustainability Report is made possible by Sustainability Offices and Sustainability Policy Working Group members spanning each campus, academic health center, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Berkeley Lab, and UCOP, as well as contributors in the Academic Senate, UCOP Information Technology Services, UC Research and Innovation, UC Natural Reserve System, UC Student and Equity Affairs, UC External Relations and Communications, UC Health, UC Investments and UC Procurement.