Keeping fossil fuel shares

The University of British Columbia’s board of governors has fended off pressure from its faculty and students to sell fossil fuel holdings that account for about C$85 million of the university’s C$1.4 billion endowment fund.

Instead, the board voted to put C$10 million toward a new fund that would invest in low-carbon futures, which would be set apart from the endowment fund.

The attempt at a compromise follows the lead of Montreal’s Concordia University which rejected a campaign calling for complete divestment in favor of creating a separate C$5 million fund for non-fossil fuel investments.

The University of Calgary, Montreal’s McGill University and Dalhousie University of Halifax have all refused to divest their holdings in oil, natural gas and coal companies.

The University of Toronto is expected to make a decision within two months having lost an estimated C$550 million by not divesting in 2012.

UBC’s Vice President of Communications Philip Steenkamp said the downturn in fossil fuel shares will see “investors making decisions based on market realities, so we’ll begin to see us shift away from carbon-intensive companies in any case.”

He also suggested it might be better to see if there is a market recovery rather than selling off shares at a low market point.

Steenkamp said divestment campaigners have described the issue as a moral one, while the board of governors is committed to a “more effective way” of tackling climate change by committing to “very aggressive” reductions in greenhouse gas emissions on the campus.

“Our view is that the university’s primary job is the teaching and research mission and we are the leaders ... in sustainability on that front,” he said.

- GARY PARK