Download Motion Regarding McGill Divestment from Tar Sands, Oil

Submitted for: PGSS Council, McGill University, December 3rd, 2014 (submitted on November
26th)
Movers: Victor M. Frankel, PGSS Councilor, BGSA rep
Motion Regarding McGill Divestment from Tar Sands, Oil Pipelines and other Fossil Fuel
Industries
WHEREAS, there is a increasing consensus in the international scientific community, including
to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that the anthropogenic emissions of
carbon dioxide and other green house gasses are driving climate change on a planetary scale (1,
2, 3);
WHEREAS, global climate change imperils human welfare worldwide by 1) threatening food
security through the increases and severity of droughts and floods, 2) increasing the frequency
and intensity of severe weather events, 3) displacing coastal communities due to rising sea levels,
and 4) increasing the risk of the spread of infectious diseases (4, 5, 6);
WHEREAS, scientists predict that a rise in global average temperature of 2°C can drive
irreversible feedback processes that will further increase the impacts of climate change;
WHEREAS, Canada affirmed through the 2010 Cancun agreements of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (2) that climate change is one of the greatest
challenges of our time... [and] that deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required
according to science, and as documented in the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with a view to reducing global greenhouse gas
emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2°C above preindustrial
levels, and that Parties should take urgent action to meet this long-term goal, consistent with
science and on the basis of equity;
WHEREAS, the Tar Sands represent the fastest growing source of carbon emissions in Canada
and is the most significant impediment to meeting Canada’s emissions reductions targets (7, 8)
WHEREAS, a lack of environmental monitoring in the Athabasca region has required the use of
paleolimnology to study freshwater systems in tar sands regions and these studies have shown
new ecological conditions with the commencement of tar sands activities (9);
WHEREAS, 8.4% of McGill’s Endowment of approximately $2.1 billion dollars is invested in 38
fossil fuel companies (10a, 10b), including 1.45% specifically invested in 14 tar sands companies
(10a, 10b, 12);
WHEREAS, 35 of the companies in which McGill University owns shares are among the largest
fossil fuel companies in the world, and collectively hold 205.455 Gigatonnes of CO2 beneath the
ground (10a, 10b, 12) that if released into the atmosphere would have potentially catastrophic
impacts on human society and ecosystem services;
WHEREAS, 80% of the world’s known carbon reserves must remain underground to keep
warming below 2°C, and none of the companies in which McGill invests have committed to
keeping 80% of their reserves unburned (11);
WHEREAS, the recent declines in the hydro-carbon market demonstrates the volatility of these
investments and threaten the financial stability of institutions invested in these industries and that
there are profitable alternatives to fossil fuel companies, such that fossil-free portfolios have
performed better in the last ten years than those invested in fossil fuels (13);
WHEREAS, in response to the efforts of the Divest McGill campaign, McGill Board of
Governors Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR) reviewed its
terms of reference and proposed changes that were considered by the Nominating, Governance
and Ethics NGE) Committee and approved by the Board of Governors on May 22, 2013. These
revisions expanded the definition of social injury to include grave, injurious impact, which the
activities of a company are found to have on the natural environment;
WHEREAS, there is a broad movement of over 700 universities, foundations, municipal
governments and other institutions that are lobbing for, or have already realized, fossil fuel
divestment with the aim of isolating these companies on a social and economic basis;
BIRT PGSS actively lobby McGill University to divest its holdings in companies engaged in
fossil fuel production, specifically calling for an immediate divestment from tar sands and oil
pipeline companies and provide a 5-year time-frame to divest from the other top 200 fossil fuel
companies in which it is invested.
BIFRT that PGSS mandate its executive board to actively support divestment initiatives. This
can include, but is not limited to, disseminating information about direct actions, promoting
protests, and endorsing petitions and legal briefs submitted to the governance bodies of McGill
University regarding divestment from fossil fuel industries.
BIFRT PGSS encourage the Secretary General to lobby for divestment at the McGill Board of
Governors in accordance with the above clauses. Specifically, PGSS encourages the Secretary
General perform specific actions at that level and provide evidence to PGSS of these actions
which can include, but are not limited to
1) put divestment on the agenda at the board of governor’s meeting at the
beginning of 2015
2) call for divestment to a vote at the Board of Governors in 2015
3) vote in favor of divestment at the Board of Governors.
BIFRT PGSS mandate the External Affairs Officer to bring a motion to the FEUQ, to initiate a
divestment campaign and to lobby the FEUQ’s member associations to bring motions to their
respective universities to divest their holdings in tar sands and oil pipelines companies and other
fossil fuel industries.
BIFRT PGSS mandate the Environment Commissioner draft a policy with PSAC that promotes
divestment from fossil fuel industries to the furthest extent possible.
_________________
1) Committee on America’s Climate Choices, National Resource Council. America’s Climate
Choices. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2011. 15.
2) United Nations. Framework Convention on Climate Change. (United Nations, 1992) 2-3.
Online: http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/background/items/1362.php.
3) Gore, Al. “Climate of Denial: Can the Science and the Truth Withstand the Merchants of
Poison?” Rolling Stone Jun 2011 26.
4) 350.org. “Science”. 2012. Online: http://www.350.org/en/about/science.
5) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Synthesis Report. New York. Online:
http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/spm3.html, 2007.
6) Parry, ML et al. (eds). Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2007.
7) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. “Report of the individual review
of the annual submission of Canada submitted in 2010” 21 April 2011.
8) Schindler D. “Tar Sands Need Solid Science” (Nature 468, 25 Nov 2010) 499-501.
9) Kurek J et al. “Legacy of half a century of Athabasca oil sands development recorded by lake
ecosystems” (PNAS 110, 29 January 2013) 1761-1766.
10a) McGilliLeaked. “2011/12 Publicly Traded Equity Holdings.” Online:
http://mcgillileaked.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/201112-publicly -traded-equity-holdings/.
10b) Divest McGill. “McGill Investments.” Online: http://divestmcgill.wordpress.com/mcgillsinvestments.
11) The Carbon Tracker Initiative. “Unburnable Carbon: Are the World’s Financial Markets
Carrying a Carbon Bubble” (Aug 2012). Online: http://www.carbontracker.org/qpcontent/uploads/downloads/2012/08/Unburnable -Carbon-Full1.pdf
12) McGill Office of Investments Quarterly Report on Endowment Performance, June 30, 2013;
McGill Operating Budget 2012
13) Patrick Geddes. 2013. “Do the investment Math: Building a Carbon-Free Portfolio.” Aperio
Group.