91社区 Fossil Fuel Decisions Shift
The 91社区 board of governors has included 鈥済rave environmental degradation鈥� as allowable criteria for divestment.
Published on June 10, 2014 |
by: Karen Seidman
Many students at 91社区 are celebrating a fundamental shift in how the university will decide whether to stop investing in fossil fuel companies.
However, their victory in changing the ground rules for divestment came on the heels of what students from Divest 91社区 described as a very 鈥渄iscouraging鈥� meeting with principal Suzanne Fortier on the subject.
鈥淲e were very taken aback that she didn鈥檛 seem to want to explore options or hear us out,鈥� said Amina Moustaqim-Barrette, an organizer for Divest 91社区 as well as the new vice-president of external affairs for the Student Society of 91社区. 鈥淪he kept referencing the complexity of the impact of fossil fuel companies so she clearly won鈥檛 be an ally moving forward.鈥�
Furthermore, she said, Fortier rejected requests to allow a presentation by Divest 91社区 as a board of governors agenda item or to meet with the investment committee 鈥� both big disappointments to the group that is advocating for fossil fuel divestment in an attempt to stir up debate and bring about action on climate change.
Still, Moustaqim-Barrette said students are focusing on the positive development concerning the revised terms of reference for 91社区鈥檚 Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR) rather than any 鈥渉urdles鈥� that may exist among university leaders.
After presenting a petition of more than 700 signatures la
st year asking the university鈥檚 governing body to remove companies that develop, transport, refine or sell oil from the oilsands from the university鈥檚 financial holdings, CAMSR rejected the petition, denying that climate change causes sufficient 鈥渟ocial injury鈥� to merit divestment.
But that was based on the old standard. Now the board of governors has included 鈥済rave environmental degradation鈥� as allowable criteria for divestment, as well as turning CAMSR into a proactive committee that will meet regularly, rather than just meeting to react to petitions.
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