Northeastern University is deeply committed to becoming a greener institution. In 2007, the University became a founding member of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, a nationwide initiative to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions among institutions of higher learning. In 2010, Northeastern officially adopted a climate action strategy called " Sustainable Action Plan: Roadmap towards Carbon Neutrality." Later that year, the Sustainable Endowments Institute, one of the most rigorous assessors of sustainability practices on college campuses, awarded Northeastern one of the highest ratings in North America on its 2011 College Sustainability Report Card—an A-, which is the highest of any Boston-based university.

More recently, Northeastern was selected for inclusion in The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition and—for the 4th year in a row—was named to The Princeton Review’s “Green Honor Roll,” as one of 21 institutions to earn the highest possible “Green Rating” score of 99 for 2013. The university was also cited as “America’s Greenest College” by the Green Metric Ranking of World Universities in 2012 and is a new member of the Clinton Global Initiative University Network.