Towards a Greener W. M. Keck Observatory

With the release in August 2021 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sixth assessment report(1), the crisis of climate change is irrefutable and the critical need for action to address it has gained broad support throughout the global community. As stewards of the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea and considering our place in our island community and the global community, it is important that we lay the groundwork for examining sustainability measures, attainable goals and viable paths to meet those goals. This paper presents a methodology for viewing and measuring one aspect of the sustainability challenge which can inform the development of a sustainability strategy for WMKO. One of the most notable challenges facing the global community is realizing a significant reduction in greenhouse gases which are contributing to accelerating climate change and increasing probability of extreme weather events. We present an understanding of the key contributors to WMKO's carbon footprint, initial estimates of what that footprint was for 2019 and some opportunities and next steps towards developing and executing on a plan to reduce it over the coming decade.