April 27, 2016

University of Ottawa Rejects Divestment

After 18 months of careful analysis, commissioned reports, and thorough consultation with divestment advocates, students and faculty, the University of Ottawa’s Board of Governors has officially rejected divestment. In Monday’s press release, the University of Ottawa Board of Governors Chair Robert Giroux states,

“We are reducing the carbon footprint of our entire investment portfolio by at least 30 per cent by 2030 – in line with Canada’s national climate commitment. This will reduce far more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than divesting from fossil fuel companies.” [emphasis added]

According to University of Ottawa President and Vice-Chancellor Allan Rock, the decision to engage in “groundbreaking solutions” like the Clean Innovations Fund is far more effective in identifying ways to reduce the University’s carbon emissions. President Rock’s sentiment has been echoed by financial experts like UCLA  economics professor, Ivo Welch, who explained that divested energy shares would be absorbed almost instantly by the market, having virtually no impact on the industry itself.

Rather than conceding to the symbolic demands of divestment activists, President Rock made it clear that the board took “an evidence-based approach in coming to [their] decision.” In the same vein, the University of Ottawa and others in the country have taken a pragmatic approach to finding real renewable energy and clean technology solutions.

Divestment Defeats across Canada

The University of Ottawa is only the latest Canadian university to reject divestment in the first trimester of the year. As DivestmentFacts noted, on March 30^th the University of Toronto rejected fossil fuel divestment, but said it would instead consider an environmental, social and governance strategy in future engagements. Calling blanket divestment an “unprincipled and inappropriate” strategy, University of Toronto President Meric Gertler pointed out that fossil fuel firms “only account for one-quarter of Canada’s greenhouse emissions.”

Just one week before the University of Toronto, McGill University also announced that the Board of Governors decided against divesting its fossil fuel holdings. McGill’s Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR) advised the Board that there was, “no advantage or benefit for McGill to engage in action that would have negligible impact on climate change.” Divestment has likewise been rejected at the University of Calgary, Dalhousie University in Halifax and the University of British Columbia, the latter of which instead promised to create a low-carbon investment fund.

By refusing to engage in a meaningless gesture that would have no tangible impact on emissions, Canadian universities are instead opting to invest their efforts and resources into finding real solutions to combating climate change.