The investment decisions of the University of Toronto are being opened up to a small forum of students, staff, and faculty. The Responsible Investment Committee was formed in 2009 by the Governing Council and aims to better incorporate environmental and social issues into the university’s investment plan.
“Though it may not sound as sexy as other activist activities,” said John Maiorano, master’s student and member of the RIC, “I can assure you, it is one of the most important ways to evoke change for a more environmentally and socially rational world.”
The committee has struggled to create widespread student interest. In November the RIC hosted People, Planet, or Profit, a town hall that was poorly attended. Maiorano stresses that working to change the investment decisions made by U of T is arguably a more meaningful method of creating change than protesting.
“There is no sense in complaining about the state of the world, either environmentally or socially, if you invest in, or own, those very agendas you are fighting against,” said Maiorano.
While the RIC has yet to make any recommendations to the university regarding its investing strategies, Maiorano cites U of T’s decision in 2006 to divest from tobacco companies as an example of students’ ability to pressure for change. Moiorano suggests that despite small victories, the importance of investment decisions is still poorly understood.
“All investors, from the University of Toronto, to your corporate pension plan, to the mutual funds you invest in, have business impacts, locally, nationally, and internationally. With every dollar we invest, there is an effect somewhere,” said Maiorano. “We, as investors, need to better understand the decisions other people are making with our money, the business practices that are being engaged in, the natural resources that are being used, and whether the environmental impacts are sustainable or non sustainable.”
