By: Luke Faulks, Staff Writer
After years of lobbying from climate advocacy group SFU350, the Board of Governors (BOG) formally declared a climate emergency on January 28. The Board’s vote approved most elements from the student group’s 2021 Climate Emergency Declaration (CED) open letter.
In a statement to The Peak, SFU350 said, “The declaration is really a concrete acknowledgment by the university of the climate crisis that we’re in and an understanding that the university does have a role to play.”
SFU350 said while they are “optimistic” about the declaration, “the day-to-day changes will be minimal in the lives of students right now.”
The declaration by BoG brought the university in line with six of seven demands from the letter. The six demands approved included:
- decarbonize university facilities in accordance with the IPCC’s recommendations,
- divest from carbon-intensive investments,
- create a “climate hub” to engage the student population on the crisis,
- create future climate policy with an eye to climate justice for disenfranchised communities, educate students about climate change and climate justice, and
- set out a series of immediate policy actions to take in a report by April 2022.
The BoG didn’t agree to the call to “raise awareness and amplify” concerns around the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX). According to SFU350, the BoG argued it was “‘inappropriate’ to take a position on issues that fall beyond its ‘institutional mandate.’” SFU350 does not agree with this explanation.
“The decision to divest, their statements on anti-Black racism, support for scholars in Afghanistan, and SFU Athletics team name change [ . . . ] were political,” said the advocacy group.
“The City of Burnaby and the fire department remain concerned about safety issues surrounding TMX, as do Indigenous land defenders and allies,” said SFU350. “We will continue to push for safety, environmental awareness, and stand with Host Nations to uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty surrounding TMX both on and off-campus.”
In a statement to The Peak, SFU writes it will not “take public positions on fossil fuel projects more generally or on other such issues” but “fosters open debate and supports the rights of its faculty members and students to engage in these issues.”
On March 31, various faculty sent an open letter to the administration asking the school to “fully and swiftly engage with all the issues raised in SFU350’s CED.
“Declaring a climate emergency is important for emphasizing the urgency with which we need to act,” states the letter. “We call on SFU to raise awareness about the TMX pipeline in the SFU community and create opportunities for learning.”
The open letter from faculty criticized SFU’s decision to not speak on the TMX expansion. “If senior administration and the BoG chose to not speak out more directly against TMX, we ask that our academic freedom not be used to justify that decision. The notion that the university cannot take a stand on a political issue is not the leadership required from an engaged public institution in a climate emergency.” The letter was signed by over 100 staff.
The Board also voted to convert the 2014 Responsible Investment Committee into the “Climate Action and Sustainability Committee.”
SFU350 are “pleased to see that BoG agrees and made this change.”
According to SFU’s statement, later this year, SFU Sustainability is set to work with the Sustainability Advisory Council “to develop the next iteration of the university’s sustainability plan,” which includes the school’s “climate action commitments.”
SFU350 was not dismayed by a lack of immediate policy action on their letter. Outside of getting the school to agree with the notion of a climate crisis, SFU350 said the move will help students and climate advocates pressure the university to keep its work.
“This is a mechanism to hold SFU accountable for what they say they’re going to do to help mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency.”
