The University of Hawai'i-Manoa says it will be the first institution in Hawai'i — and the first college campus in the nation — to join a registry of corporations that measure and publicly report their annual greenhouse gas emissions.

The Climate Registry, a nonprofit organization of 75 major corporations from across the U.S., will provide UH-Manoa with standards for how to measure its carbon dioxide emissions.

"If we're ever going to make any strides in reducing the effects of climate change, we have to start somewhere," said Gregg Takayama, UH-Manoa director of communications. "The best place to start is at the university."

UH-Manoa is committed to reducing its energy use 30 percent by 2012 and to derive 25 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.

"It is an important role for us because we are an important place of scientific research and we produce leaders of the state," Takayama said.

"They're exercising real leadership in the realm of higher learning," said Darren Pai, spokesman for Hawaiian Electric Co., which in August donated $25,000 to the university to help it meet its energy-efficiency goals.

Pai said Hawaiian Electric Co. has an ongoing partnership with UH and is looking to identify more places to install energy-efficient equipment and additional meters to determine areas of high energy consumption.

"We want to help them meet their very aggressive goals to increase sustainability," Pai said.

UH will hold a ceremony today to hold a ceremonial signing of the Climate Registry agreement. The ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. in room 309 of Hawai'i Hall.

Officials will also demonstrate a portable device capable of measuring greenhouse gas emissions from different areas on campus.