MacDivest aims to better inform and increase engagement with students on climate crisis advocacy through Fossil Free Fridays
On Friday Oct. 20, McMaster Divestment Project launched their new outreach initiative, Fossil Free Fridays , which will run biweekly on Fridays throughout the semester.
Fossil Free Fridays aims to engage with students, raise awareness about the climate crisis and educate students on McMaster University’s investments in fossil fuel companies.
MacDivest was initiated three years ago as a McMaster OPIRG project. Their goal is to advocate for the university to pull out of their investments in fossil fuel companies and to increase awareness about the climate crisis.
“For three years as a group we've been pushing for the university to take its money out of fossil fuel investments, and to reinvest in green energy,” said Mila Py, a member of MacDivest.
Presently, McMaster holds 2.7 per cent of its investment portfolio in fossil fuel companies. Additionally, McMaster is building four natural gas-powered electric generators near campus on Cootes Drive, which was protested by MacDivest last spring with a hunger strike.
Fossil Free Fridays were first discussed by the group this past summer. Py stated that the intent is for them to be friendly and welcoming to attract students with a focus on raising awareness.
"With a high student turnover [and] so many new people on campus every year, the message that Mac is investing in fossil fuels doesn't stay in the minds of students,” explained Sydney Szijarto, another member of MacDivest.
With a high student turnover [and] so many new people on campus every year, the message that Mac is investing in fossil fuels doesn't stay in the minds of students.
Sydney Szijarto, member, MacDivest
Through these events MacDivest hopes to ensure that new students are made aware of McMaster’s reluctance to shift its fossil fuel investments into industries whose actions are not major contributors to rising global temperatures.
For their first Fossil Free Friday, a picnic was held on campus in front of the Burke Science Building and cookies were given out to students who stopped and engaged with MacDivest members. Informative flyers and stickers were also given out to students.
For future events, Py explained that many ideas are being considered, including having a climate-related chalk-art event, a coffee house, a potluck and sharing art and poetry relevant to climate activism.
Future updates on these events as well as others by MacDivest will be posted to their Instagram, @mcmasterdivest.
Six students affiliated with MacDivest will be hunger striking if the university does not meet their demands by March 20
On Mar. 8, MacDivest announced in an Instagram post that at least six students will be hunger striking, in order to put pressure on the university to meet their demands.
According to Navin Garg, media liaison for MacDivest, the organization began in 2013 under the name Fossil Free McMaster and it has been active under the name MacDivest for the past three years. Throughout this time, the organization has been calling for McMaster University to divest from fossil fuels.
Currently, MacDivest is putting pressure on the university to divest the 30.4 million dollars that it currently has invested in the Carbon Underground 200, the largest two hundred owners of carbon reserves.
“What we want are either firm statements [demonstrating] that they will be putting a policy into place, or, better than that, we want the policy, because we need to know that the university will follow through with what they're saying,” explained Garg.
What we want are either firm statements [demonstrating] that they will be putting a policy into place or, better than that, we want the policy, because we need to know that the university will follow through with what they're saying.
Navin Garg, Media Liasion for MacDivest
MacDivest is also calling for the university to remove the gas burning generators that they are building at Cootes Drive.
Garg explained that the gas-powered generators are being introduced as a peak shaving measure or a measure that attempts to lower the highest spikes in demand on the electrical grid. In McMaster’s Net Zero Carbon Road Map Report, they discuss their plan to implement peak shaving generators.
“It is estimated that the generators will be required to operate for an estimated 60 - 100 hours per year in order to ensure that the campus demand is reduced during the provincial peaks,” reads the report.
McMaster has received approval from the City of Hamilton to build the generators; however, they still require provincial approvals.
According to Garg, the generators would have to run for approximately 60 hours per year for 13 years to pay for themselves, at which point the university would begin making money to invest in clean energy.
Garg also emphasized that researchers have developed fossil-fuel-free peak shaving methods and MacDivest called on the university to research these methods rather than relying on gas-powered generators.
Garg explained that the decision to hunger strike comes after numerous other attempts by MacDivest to persuade the university to divest from fossil fuels, including sit-ins, rallies, letters and petitions from students and faculty.
According to Garg, since the announcement of the hunger strike, members of the university administration have met with MacDivest. However, Garg stated that the university is not willing to commit to divestment or to the removal of the gas-powered generators.
“We say what our demands are and our justifications and they say something along the lines of, "Oh, we hear you, we see you, but we can't do that,"” explained Garg.
Garg added that the McMaster administration is not willing to use the university’s investment portfolio politically. As of publication, the university has not respond to the Silhouette's request for comment.
This also be seen though on the McMaster Financial Affairs webpage, which says that, due to the inability of the University to take a singular collective stance, McMaster is inclined not to establish hard social or political guidelines with respect to their investment decisions.
“Investing in fossil fuels is political, inherently, and judging a company as okay to invest in by a specific political metric is political. So, we don't consider divestment [to be] a political thing; we consider it an environmental imperative,” said Garg.
Investing in fossil fuels is political, inherently, and judging a company as okay to invest in by a specific political metric is political. So we don't consider divestment [to be] a political thing; we consider it an environmental imperative.
Navin Garg, Media Liasion for MacDivest
Regarding the hunger strike itself, Garg explained that five to six students will be participating in a fluids-only hunger strike, meaning that they will only be consuming water and electrolyte solution for the duration of the strike. Garg added that MacDivest is considering the use of a 100-calorie nutritional supplement as well but that they are unlikely to implement this in the strike.
While the exact location of the striking students is not yet known, Garg emphasized that the strikers would be in a central location that sees high student traffic.
“The idea of the hunger strike is to be very central and very visible, so that anyone walking around on campus is likely to see us at some point during their day,” said Garg.
This is an ongoing story.
Graphic by Elisabetta Paiano/ Production Editor
The threat of climate change was made clear by the fires that spread across Australia earlier this year. Heat waves and drought caused bush fires that permanently altered the country’s landscape, which were made at least 30 per cent worse by the impacts of climate change.
Australia’s devastating fires are only an early example of the consequences of the climate crisis. Although, across the world, Hamilton has its own possibilities for disaster. In November it came to light that 24 billion litres of sewage spilled into Chedoke Creek from 2014 to 2018, which the city kept hidden despite possible impacts on the local environment and residents.
In addition to the Chedoke Creek contamination, the city was charged in late 2019 to clean up toxic chemicals that had been seeping into local waterways. The city-owned John C. Munro International Airport had years-old chemicals in surrounding soil which leached into nearby water during wet weather. The spills make it clear that Hamilton needs to be prepared for the environmental impacts of climate change, especially flooding, which will become the city’s main concern along with extreme heat.
Rising temperatures bring the possibility for droughts. Conversely, increased precipitation could lead to flooding, rising lake levels and could negatively impact shoreline erosion.
Hamilton also has to worry about greenhouse gases, which are largely produced in the city by burning fossil fuels, transportation and industry. In 2018 the city committed to five points of action which include creating a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and an emissions reduction target.
In March 2019 Hamilton declared a climate emergency along with hundreds of other municipalities across Canada. Along with the declaration, the city committed to a climate vulnerability and risk assessment, which has yet to be completed. In December 2019 city councillors approved a climate action plan, but they have yet to include any deadlines or costs associated with the project.
One important change is that the city will try to apply a climate lens to future actions. According to Kate Flynn, the acting director at the centre for climate change management at Mohawk College, the city is using a climate lens to prevent some of the worst effects of climate change and adapt to impacts we can’t avoid. For example, when the city makes an infrastructure improvement, they must consider the future environmental impact of chosen supplies and processes.
Flynn also pointed out that infrastructure changes are necessary to prepare for climate change, specifically in transportation and public works. She noted that over time Hamilton will be at risk for increased precipitation which would lead to flooding and harm water quality, so updates to city infrastructure and residential homes are necessary to avoid damages.
“I think one of the things that's really important to dispel is this myth that Canadians are going to be okay,” said Flynn, “the thing about climate change is that it's a global issue, but the effects of it are going to be hyperlocalized.”
“I think one of the things that's really important to dispel is this myth that Canadians are going to be okay [. . .] the thing about climate change is that it's a global issue, but the effects of it are going to be hyperlocalized.”
While the economic and physical effects of climate change are becoming more of a concern for the city, the social impacts are still largely overlooked. Caitlin Thompson and Joann Varickanickal, volunteers with Climate Ready Hamilton, a community organization, stressed the importance of social cohesion for disaster preparedness.
Thompson and Varickanickal suggested that students get to know their fellow community members and think about how vulnerable populations, like elderly, homeless and low-income community members, will be disproportionately impacted in times of climate crisis. One project CRH worked on sought to map out spaces open to the public for food and shelter in times of disaster. If a heat wave occurred, vulnerable residents without air conditioning could find a place to cool down through the community-sourced resource hub.
Beyond cases of climate disaster, CRH also works to help communities improve the environmental conditions brought on by local pollution.
“Look at communities that are in the industrial core . . . we know that they have poor air quality, but a lot of people in those neighborhoods don't know that they can work together and you can report those things to the government . . . part of this project now can be going into neighborhoods and supporting neighborhoods and understanding their rights,” said Thompson.
Thompson and Varickanickal also noted the importance of preparing a 72 hour kit.
“If there's a massive emergency . . . aid will begin [about] 72 hours after,” said Thompson. “Basically you need to be able to be prepared and stay okay by yourself for 72 hours because you may not get help.”
According to the city of Hamilton website, residents should prepare a 72 hour supply of food and water, along with a “go bag” with items like a first aid kit, blankets and more.
Preparing for 72 hours only works in case of an emergency, but we have to prepare for a future where climate disaster is a regular part of our lives. According to the Centre for Climate and Emergency Solutions, climate resilience is a framework for thinking about climate change and our ability to prepare for, and bounce back from, climate-related disaster. Climate resilience accounts for the irreversible damage already done to our climate, along with possibilities for mitigating some of the worst effects we could see in the future. Flynn noted that climate resilience isn’t only about infrastructure, but also how we can improve our social systems to better support one another through the impacts of climate change.
“If you're talking about climate resilience, well we should be talking about resilience in other ways too? Like making sure . . . everyone has access to good food no matter what happens, right? So it's kind of a framework for thinking through solutions through the lens of equity,” said Flynn.
Despite possibilities for climate resilience, the state of climate change is dire and sometimes frightening. Flynn reflected on how she continues to work in climate change management despite the cataclysmic effects on the climate.
“I think why people are like, how do you get out of bed every day and think about climate change? And I'm like, because believe it or not, there's so many opportunities within climate change to just like do all the things that we've always thought about doing, but never really prioritized. There's no more excuses,” said Flynn.
"There's so many opportunities within climate change to just like do all the things that we've always thought about doing, but never really prioritized. There's no more excuses."
Hamilton will face unique challenges from climate change that the city will have to manage. To create a climate resilient city, community members will have to come together to care for one another. Whether it’s creating a 72 hour kit or a map of resources, knowing who needs help in your community and how will be integral.
