Sustainable Investment
The board was presented with a motion to increase the amount invested in what is classified as “sustainable investment holdings.” The $12 million, or 3 per cent of the endowment portfolio, currently invested will be increased to $20 million, or 5 per cent of the endowment portfolio.
Said SFU President Andrew Petter, “This very much puts us in a leadership position. Concordia and Trent, I think, are the only two other universities that have actually gone this direction in creating funds, or in our case enlarging funds, for this kind of purpose.”
Concerns were raised by undergraduate student representative Deven Azevedo about how the other 95 per cent of the endowment could be invested “potentially in morally ambiguous funds.” In addition, he expressed concern over the lack of commitment to when the remaining portion of the endowment portfolio would be dealt with.
Petter responded to this concern by noting this is a positive first step and that there are ongoing discussions around how to measure the university’s carbon footprint and whether it is better to divest or be an “active investor.” After a vote, the motion passed.
Energy Utilization Policy
The board voted to approve a university-wide policy on energy utilization effective immediately. The policy is to help the university reduce its overall greenhouse gas emission levels.
Said board member June Francis, “We decided to have a policy that strongly reflected our expectations around following the guidelines without making it a policy that we could not actually enforce.”
These considerations gave rise to amending language in the policy, which previously read “required” and “encouraged,” in regards to SFU community members and campus groups becoming more energy efficient and reducing greenhouse gasses. The new language dictates that these groups are “expected” to do so, in order to meet these institutional goals.
