By Erica Colaianne

In this episode of Michigan Minds, Jennifer Haverkamp, the Graham Family Director of the Graham Sustainability Institute, discusses how the legal and policy aspects of sustainability and environmental efforts complement the more technical components of engineering and natural sciences. As the co-chair of the University of Michigan President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality, she also outlines the recommendations the commission made to President Schlissel and the Board of Regents. 

Haverkamp, who is also a professor of practice at Michigan Law and a professor of practice at the Ford School of Public Policy, has vast experience in international climate change law and policy. She details how important the legislative aspect of this conversation is to help solve a problem like climate change. 

“In just so many areas, it seems that we have the technological know-how to solve a problem or to understand a problem. But, we haven’t managed to bring the levers of change forward to actually solve the problem. Those can include the legislation and regulations that are needed, the policy incentives, and the ‘getting the information out to people’ to incentivize them to change their behaviors,” she says. 

Haverkamp explains the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality and the set of recommendations that they submitted to U-M President Mark Schlissel in March, which includes a collection of 50 recommendations that U-M could take to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions across its campuses. She says that the commission worked with faculty, staff, and students to identify ways that the institution could transition away from fossil fuels, move toward purchasing more renewable energy, and what organizational structure is needed. 

“Climate change is an existential crisis for the planet. It is an all hands on deck problem. And the good news is that those of us at the University of Michigan — through our faculty, our staff, our students, our incredible alumni — we have the tools to make a big difference. We can do that. We need to do that.”