Dalhousie claims to invest ethically; its investments tell a different story.

Divest Dal has been pushing the university to screen out fossil fuel companies. In 2014 and 2019 Dalhousie’s Board of Governors refused to do so. Their refusal ignited efforts within Dalhousie’s Senate to review fossil fuel investment and their impact on academic matters. The consensus from this effort was to work with the Board of Governors to implement an ethical investment policy to address climate change.

The resulting policy has failed to address the concerns the underly the divestment movement and has failed to exclude even the most egregious polluters and ethics violators.

So-called Environmental, Social, and Governance investing claims to consider these factors when making investment decisions. However, the policies tend to be so weak that none of the benefits of divestment are achieved. Dalhousie’s policy is no exception.

While Dalhousie talks the talk, it fails to walk the walk.

Dalhousie’s investments:

prairie sky royalty ltd

Dalhousie investment: $2,265 569
Grounds for divestment: Environmental

Prairie Sky Royalty is the largest independently owned portfolio of fee simple(1) mineral title and oil and gas royalty interests in Canada.

 
Nestle

Dalhousie investment: $2,863 667
Grounds for divestment: Social and environmental

Nestle is the world’s largest producer of plastic bottled water and consistently creates water insecure communities by bottling their water and re-selling it. They are also heavily connected to child labor in the chocolate industry.

 
RBC

Dalhousie investment: $5,967 050
Grounds for divestment: Environmental and Social

RBC is the biggest funder of the CGL pipeline, among many other oil and gas projects, notably those that threaten Indigenous sovereignty.

 
Axon logo

Dalhousie investment: $1,726,219
Grounds for divestment: Social

Axon Enterprise Inc runs Tasercon, a conference that promotes weapon use in law enforcement, notably tasers. They also manufacture weaponry for military, law enforcement and civilians in the United States.

1200px-Suncor_Energy.svg.png

Dalhousie investment: $ 554,075
Grounds for divestment: Environmental

Suncor has been fined $5,926,380 in the US and Canada for environmental infractions. Their negligence has led to the dumping of sewage into the Athabasca River, resulting in a $400,000 fine.

 
TC Energy

Dalhousie investment: $351,303
Grounds for divestment: Environmental and social

TC Energy is the parent company for the CGL pipeline. This pipeline is being constructed against hereditary law on Wet’suwet’en land. This has resulted in extreme violence against the land and land defenders on the part of the RCMP.

 
Enbridge.jpg

Dalhousie investment: $4,128 959
Grounds for divestment:  Environmental and Social

Enbridge engaged in a coordinated effort along with CSIS, and TransCanada Corp. to spy on civil society groups and members of the public who are against fossil fuel infrastructure. They are also the owner and operator of the longest pipeline system in North America.

 

Dalhousie investment: $132,326
Grounds for divestment: Environmental

Cenovus recently rejected a shareholder motion to set carbon emission target consistent with the Paris Climate Agreement which would limit climate change to 2 degrees. A recent policy paper co-written by a former coal executive suggests that if climate change is not limited to 2 degrees, “climate change represents a near- to mid-term existential threat to human civilization”.