On Sept. 7, the Divest Canada Coalition (DCC) was announced with an open letter demanding universities and colleges across the country divest entirely from the fossil fuel industry.
Canada’s divestment movement has gained new momentum as 30 student groups from post-secondary institutions across Canada joined together to form the DCC.
This latest coalition is not the first divestment movement to come out of Canadian universities, with many student groups campaigning in previous years on their own campuses.
This time, they are demanding change together.
Sam Taylor, the Executive director of Climate Action Carleton and one of the founding members of the DCC said “it’s just been so inspiring to meet these groups across the country, who are all trying to push for the same thing.”
The University of British Columbia, Carleton University, McGill University, University of Toronto, and Dalhousie University are just a few of the institutions represented in the coalition.
“We’ve come together and it has made us so much stronger, and a real force to be reckoned with,” Taylor said.
On Sept 8. the coalition called for students to sign its open letter, which will be sent to the executives and board of governors of all 30 institutions. It has since reached almost 500 signatures.
The letter demands that universities “divest from the past, reject false solutions, and invest in the future.”
Divesting from the fossil fuel industry
The fossil fuel industry consists of some of the richest countries in the world, and is responsible for extracting oil, coal, and natural gas. The industry has been recognized by leading researchers including the United Nations as a significant contributor to climate change.
Recent data shows Canadian universities have hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the fossil fuel industry, despite many campuses positioning themselves as leaders in sustainability.
Simon Greenland-Smith, a member of a divestment group called Divest Dal at Dalhousie University, says “Dalhousie researches and teaches about climate change, racial injustice and health, yet it holds investments in fossil fuels, private prisons, weapons manufacturers, and tobacco companies.”
“If it wrecks the climate, it isn’t an investment. Pure and simple,” Greenland-Smith added.
Globally, $3.4 trillion has been divested from fossil fuels, and educational institutions are the fourth largest sector that has stopped investing in fossil fuels.
However, Canadian universities tend to fall behind other countries in divestment.
So far, 133 post-secondary schools have divested globally, including half of universities in the United Kingdom.
Divestment movement at Canadian universities
In recent years, few Canadian universities have announced plans to divest from the fossil fuel industry, including the University of Ottawa, University of Guelph, Concordia University, Université Laval, and UBC.
UBC is one of the post-secondary institutions in Canada that has invested the most in Canada’s fossil fuel industry, with nearly $2 billion of its endowment fund invested.
In February, UBC announced it would fully divest from the fossil fuel industry by 2030, but has not made it clear when this process will begin. Members of Climate Justice UBC are not satisfied, urging their school to be more transparent with their divestment plans.
The student group, which began advocating for UBC to divest in 2013, was one of the founding members of the DCC.
Michelle Marcus, a member of Climate Justice UBC, said since all of the student groups are working towards the same goal of divestment, so why not join forces and work together?
“The stronger that the coalition is, the stronger that each of our individual groups will be,” she said.
The coalition was developed over the summer, founded by a second-year Carleton student, Sophie Price. Together, these 30 student groups believe they can achieve more in the divestment movement than in previous years.
Nafeesa Alibhai, another member of Climate Justice UBC said the DCC is a meeting of the minds, with many experts in advocacy and protesting coming together.
“It shows universities that we are serious about this, and we can’t be ignored,” said Alibhai.
Carleton and divestment
The open letter also calls for more transparency from universities about their investments, information which has been hard to find.
Climate Action Carleton says it has been working to uncover the investments made by Carleton University, but have found little luck in learning specifics on how much Carleton is investing in the fossil fuel industry.
“[The University] continually reviews Carleton’s practices in this important area. We look forward to engaging with Carleton students and other stakeholders as we assess this complex issue,” she said.
On Sept. 9, Climate Action Canada sent the DCC open letter to eight members of the Carleton Board of Governors (BOG). Climate Action Canada said they have still not received a response from the BOG.
Despite not receiving a response, Taylor said he feels more hopeful that their demands will be heard now that many student groups across the country are working together.
“When we were divided, we were unable to succeed with our own universities, but coming together has really allowed us to become a very strong actor with a very simple, concrete, feasible ask,” Taylor said.
“I have full confidence that divestment can be achieved.”
The student groups involved in the DCC will be announcing more plans for action in the upcoming weeks, starting with protests around Canada for the Global Day of Climate Action on Sept. 25.
