Laval University wants to reduce the carbon footprint of its investments by 50% Par Alexandre Duval Almost three years after promising to withdraw their investments from the petroleum sector, Laval University has changed course a bit. The new, responsible investment strategy, which they adopted this week, is aimed more at reducing the carbon footprint of all shares held by the University by 50% between now and 2030. In order to get into action quickly, Laval University has also given themselves a halfway target: reduce the carbon footprint of their shares by 30% within the next 5 years. Although they are ambitious, these targets are different from the intentions that were initially announced in winter 2017. Following pressure from students, the former administration had promised to withdraw their investments in the petroleum sector. The new strategy, however, does not rest directly on this principle. Of course, the University says that they want to limit the exposure of their investments to reserves of fossil energy, but is not promising to cease all investments in hydrocarbons. Laval University says that they have adopted a more global strategy. Based on the principle of reducing their carbon footprint, the institution will achieve their best results, according to the vice-rector of administration, André Darveau. “Here, we are aiming for a much broader action that makes it possible for us to push much further,” Mr. Darveau points out. He also affirms that withdrawing hydrocarbons would not solve everything, because other industrial sectors still produce more pollution. In any case, Mr. Darveau is convinced that the objective of reducing the carbon footprint will necessarily bring about a gradual withdrawal of investments in fossil energies. A question of principle The pro-environment student group Univert Laval has affirmed that the strategy proposed by Laval University is good news because of the ambitious targets it has set. “We maintain that, in our opinion, fossil energy is the sector that should be a target priority,” says the general coordinator, Samuel Yergeau. In his opinion, in theory, the University should have kept its initial promise. “Divestment in fossil energies was certainly not solely for the purpose of reducing their carbon emissions.”
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