This is a model letter for those wishing to respond to the Consultation Notice and Call for
Submissions put out by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Divestment from Fossil Fuels
on June 4th, 2015. It is available at:
http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/public/pdadc/2014_to_2015/97.htm
Submissions are due by September 30th, 2015.
This document includes bullet points in blue which are designed to allow each person to choose
the text that best matches their personal position. Please select the text which you most agree
with, or substitute text of your own. Please remove this red text before you submit your letter.
Some people have already submitted this model letter in an unmodified form. To get
maximum attention for your letter, please consider customizing the introduction and
conclusion.
If you have questions, please contact Milan Ilnyckyj at milan@toronto350.org
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Your email address]
[Your affiliation, if any, with the University of Toronto]
[Date]
Professor Bryan Karney
Chair, Presidential Advisory Committee on Divestment from Fossil Fuels
Office of the President
Simcoe Hall, Room 206
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON M5S 1A1
karney@ecf.utoronto.ca
Dear members of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Divestment from Fossil Fuels,
I am writing to support divestment by the University of Toronto from the 200 global
fossil fuel companies with the largest reserves of coal, oil, and gas. I agree with the divestment
brief prepared by Toronto350.org, which explains how divestment from these 200 companies is
in keeping with the university's existing policies and how it would be both morally and
financially prudent.1 By expressing my support, I am joining the broad campus coalition that is
1
Toronto350.org. The Fossil Fuel Industry and the Case for Divestment: Update. 2015.
http://www.uoftfacultydivest.com/files/fossil-fuel-divest-new.pdf Robarts Library stacks LE3
.T493 T67 2015
calling for divestment, including the U of T Faculty Association, individual faculty members and
librarians who have signed the open letter at UofTFacultyDivest.com, the University of Toronto
Students' Union, the University of Toronto Graduate Students' Union, and many other
organizations and individuals. The time has come for serious action on climate change, and
divestment is a key decision that U of T can make. We would be taking action alongside a
growing set of influential actors who have started redirecting investment away from fossil fuel
corporations. These include Stanford University, the Canadian Medical Association, the
Rockefeller Foundation, Georgetown University, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, and the
World Council of Churches.2 This growing movement may help investors around the world
rethink the wisdom of major new commitments to fossil fuel development and help initiate a
massive redirection of capital toward energy efficiency improvement and climate-safe forms of
energy.
[Please add a personal message about the most important reason(s) why you think
divestment is appropriate. For instance, concern for the welfare of future generations (or young
members of your own family), concern for the integrity of natural systems and biodiversity, the
desire to set a positive example for the rest of the world before the Paris Conference of the
Parties in December, or your support for climate justice.]
Toronto350.org's fossil fuel divestment brief, The Fossil Fuel Industry and the Case for
Divestment, convincingly demonstrates why divestment from these 200 fossil fuel companies is
consistent with U of T's Policy on Social and Political Issues With Respect to University
Divestment. The brief satisfies each requirement of the policy. Taking action on climate change
is now directly pertinent to higher education and academic research. Failing to prevent dangerous
climate change threatens the prosperity and global stability which institutions of higher learning
rely upon, and would profoundly affect the lives of all those whom the university is educating.
There is no longer any serious debate among scientists about the need to take effective action on
climate change. To say that we must respond promptly and effectively to climate change does
not constitute advancing a specific political or social position; rather, it reflects the remarkable
scientific consensus that action is necessary. All influential organizations and individuals now
have a responsibility to take action on this issue. By becoming the first Canadian university to
divest, U of T can set an important positive example in responding to climate change.
2
A full list is at: http://gofossilfree.org/commitments/
The brief shows that divestment from these 200 companies meets the requirements of U of
T's existing divestment policies. Rather than being a financial sacrifice undertaken for a moral
reason, it would be a prudent investment decision compatible with the university's fiduciary duty.
It also shows that the extraction of fossil fuels meets the Yale definition of social injury, and that
the Canadian government, other governments, and international organizations have taken action
on climate change. It shows that divestment is compatible with applicable legislative
requirements, government and university policies, and the legal standards applicable to prudent
institutional investors. The extent and significance of U of T's investments in the fossil fuel
industry are sufficient to justify divestment, and the 200 companies in question are involved in
the undesirable activity of fossil fuel extraction to a degree that justifies divestment. Since the
fossil fuels which are extracted by these companies will ultimately be burned – adding to the
already-dangerous level of CO2 in the atmosphere – extraction itself constitutes social injury.

U of T has divested from tobacco companies. This precedent is especially relevant in
two ways. First, both tobacco and fossil fuels have no safe use which causes no social
injury to third parties. The primary business of both tobacco and fossil fuel companies
necessarily causes damage to human beings. When the Canadian Medical Association
committed to fossil fuel divestment in August 2015 the similarity between tobacco
and fossil fuels was noted by their board. Second, shareholder activism is an
ineffective response in both cases. It is not plausible that any investor will be able to
use shareholder activism to convince tobacco companies to abandon their core
business of selling tobacco. Similarly, it is not plausible that shareholder activism will
convince coal, oil, and gas companies to stop selling these products.

The precedent of U of T divesting from companies associated with apartheid in South
Africa is relevant. In 2014, Archbishop Desmond Tutu explained: "Just as we argued
in the 1980s that those who conducted business with apartheid South Africa were
aiding and abetting an immoral system, we can say that nobody should profit from the
rising temperatures, seas and human suffering caused by the burning of fossil fuels."
With regards to the recommendations in the brief,

I agree with all four: the university should make an immediate statement of principle
expressing its intention to divest, immediately stop making new investments in the
industry, instruct its investment managers to divest from direct stock holdings in these
200 companies within five years, and divest from Chevron within one year.

I agree that the university should make an immediate statement of principle expressing its
intention to divest, immediately stop making new investments in the industry, and
instruct its investment managers to divest from direct stock holdings in these 200
companies within five years.

[insert text of your own].
The brief recommends a number of possible uses for the divested funds.

Among them, I most support the recommendation that the money be invested in
improving energy efficiency on U of T's three campuses. In this way, U of T can
reduce its day-to-day dependence on fossil fuels at the same time as it divests. By
making a large investment and using our engineering and economic knowledge to
prioritize the projects with the largest emission reduction potential, U of T can
achieve the maximum possible benefit.

Among them, I most support the recommendation that U of T re-invest in new or
existing financial instruments designed with climate change in mind. As a respected
institutional investor, U of T can help encourage the emergence of climate-friendly
finance by supporting the emergence of financial instruments specifically designed to
help control the negative effects of climate change.

Among them, I most support the recommendation that U of T establish a sustainable
initiatives fund which could provide start-up capital for environmental engineering
students looking to launch their technology into the market; scholarships to incoming
students in order to attract the best young minds wanting to work on creating a
sustainable society; and bursaries to students already studying, allowing them to
spend the summer developing their work as opposed to finding work elsewhere.

Among them, I most support the recommendation that U of T re-invest in
conventional financial instruments aside from stock holdings in fossil fuel companies.

[insert text of your own]
The Presidential Advisory Committee on Divestment from Fossil Fuels should
recommend to President Meric Gertler that divestment is ethically and financially prudent
and in keeping with the existing policies of the university.
Thank you for your consideration,
[Your name]
[Your affiliation with U of T, if any]