A week prior to declaring a national climate emergency, the federal government announced a ban on single-use plastics starting in 2021. While bans like this aid in protecting aquatic ecosystems and improving sustainability, they may serve more as a distraction than an effective solution. Announcing a state of emergency serves[Read More…]
Tag: Divestment
CAMSR reconsidering divestment
The Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR), a governance body mandated to make recommendations to the McGill Board of Governors (BoG) on socially-responsible investing, announced on Nov. 1 that it would be compiling a second investigation into divestment from fossil fuels. CAMSR decided to reconsider their stance[Read More…]
Board of Governors refuses to vote on divestment
On Oct. 4, the McGill Board of Governors (BoG) held its first meeting of the academic year. Members discussed the diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia and the university’s world rankings. On the subject of the Sept. 12 Senate motion to divest from fossil fuels, The Board agreed to ask that[Read More…]
What is divestment?
On Sept. 12, the McGill Senate voted to support divestment from fossil fuels. While the term ‘divestment’ is ubiquitous on McGill’s campus, its meaning and implications remain foggy to many. To maintain financial stability, the Senate reports that McGill invests part of its $1.6 billion endowment into fossil fuel firms.[Read More…]
McGill Senate votes to support divestment from fossil fuels
The McGill University Senate—the governing body responsible for academic policy on campus—approved a motion endorsing divestment from fossil fuels on Sept. 12. Senators also delivered four annual progress reports relevant to academic matters, including an update on the Policy on Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Prohibited by Law. Determination of[Read More…]
McGill professors debate the effectiveness of fossil fuel divestment
“The research shows that [divestment] does make a difference,” Mikkelson said. “The most comprehensive study [of divestment movements] was done at Oxford, and they looked at other divestment campaigns that didn’t necessarily cripple the industries they were targeting, but what they did do is make a big public impact, and that spurred governments to take action [….] Divestment creates impact by raising awareness, stigmatizing target companies, and influencing legislation.”
Etzion further emphasized the status of divestment as a social rather than economic movement.
“I don’t really perceive [fossil fuel divestment] as a financial tactic,” Etzion said. “It’s about something much bigger than what you invest in, it’s actually a social movement. And the objective of this tactic is to de-legitimize an entire industry. [Universities] are very influential in how the world perceives issues, and [divestment] empowers people to envision a world that is not running on a path to destruction.”
Divestment comes at a price to students
At the Dec. 12 McGill University Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, members of Divest McGill protested against a recent revision to the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility’s (CAMSR) mandate. The policy change would prohibit the University from using the Endowment Fund to further specific social or political[Read More…]
Board of Governors approves major research grants
On Feb. 2, the McGill Board of Governors (BoG) held its first meeting of 2017. The session opened with an update on major achievements by McGill students within the last year, highlighting the fact that three students received a Rhodes Scholarship–the highest number of any Canadian university this year. The[Read More…]
Tuition-paying students not complicit in McGill’s investment practices
McGill’s endowment fund is a hot button topic. Since September alone, there has been a disruption of McGill’s Board of Governors by Divest McGill to raise awareness of sustainability, a series of open forums on sustainability, and a presentation about global growth and the environment. Many McGill students are passionately[Read More…]
Divest McGill holds three day sit-in at James Administration Building
On March 29, Divest McGill set up camp at James Square and inside the James Administration Building to protest last week’s Board of Governors (BoG) decision for McGill not to divest from its holdings in fossil fuel companies, based on a report by the Committee to Advise [on] Matters of[Read More…]
