MacGreenInvest: A Brief History MacGreenInvest has its origins in a student-led group called Fossil-free McMaster, which began in 2013. In the autumn of 2015 student submitted a petition signed by 897 people, and Jim Quinn and Atif Kubursi penned a letter to the administration of McMaster University including over 100 faculty signatures.* The letter requested divestment of endowment funds from the top 100 coal and top 100 oil and gas investments ( https://gofossilfree.org/top-200 ), making the argument that: There already exist 5X proven fossil fuel reserves needed to exceed 2C degrees increase There is a moral case for an educational institution not to invest in destruction of the climate The removal of social license has symbolic importance (cf. divestment over apartheid) Fossil fuel investments will tank in value with the conversion to green energy use After meeting with McMaster's then-President, Patrick Deane, it was decided that Dr....
An international study has found that burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil contributed to the death of almost nine million people worldwide in 2018, about one in five of all deaths that year... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-fuels-pollution-deaths-research
Divestment gathers momentum in the finance sector BlackRock, the world's largest financial asset management firm ($6.9tn U.S. in funds overall; $87.3bn fossil fuel portfolio), has announced plans to divest from thermal coal and to put sustainability at the heart of its investment strategy. For further details see: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/14/blackrock-says-climate-crisis-will-now-guide-its-investments
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