After years of pressure, UVic drops fossil-fuel investments - Times Colonist | Canada News Media
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After years of pressure, UVic drops fossil-fuel investments – Times Colonist

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The University of Victoria’s decision to divest its working-capital fund of fossil-fuel investments is being heralded by groups that have been advocating for the move.

UVic announced Tuesday that it is transferring $80 million to a short-term bond that reduces the “carbon intensity” of its investments. That follows the approval of a policy last year to lower carbon emissions, represented in the entire $225-million portfolio, by 45 per cent by 2030.

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“We are acting on our commitment to address climate change in every domain at UVic, including through our investments,” said UVic treasurer Andrew Coward. “The opportunity to invest in renewable power is clear and it aligns with UVic’s responsible investment strategy, allowing for support of future technologies while also ensuring a strong financial return.”

The investaments allow the university to lower the carbon footprint of its investments, he said, “which helps to mitigate the investment risk associated with climate change as society transitions to a greener economy that is focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Both the UVic Students’ Society and Divest UVic called the development a “major victory” following an eight-year fight to stop the university from investing in the fossil-fuel industry.

“It was honestly a shock, the timing of it,” said Emily Lowan, a UVSS director and lead organizer for Divest UVic, one of 18 such divestment groups across Canada.

She said she is impressed with how quickly new UVic president Kevin Hall, who began his five-year term Nov. 1, is taking action on student concerns. Students held a demonstration in favour of divesting shortly after Hall took office.

Lowan said the effort to effect change in investing has picked up momentum in the past two years. “Overall, it’s really been a focus and a priority for the UVic community since 2013.”

UVic said that its policy decision on the working-capital fund was influenced by “the passionate commitment, research and perspective” shown by proponents who pushed for the university to address climate change through its investments.

“The students, staff and faculty played an important role engaging with the university,” Coward said. “I’d say they were a key contributor as we developed our responsible-investment policy in January.”

The changes didn’t happen right away, he said.

“It has taken some time as we’ve carefully considered what the students have been asking us,” Coward said. “We do have our fiduciary duty in order to achieve certain financial goals.”

He said the working-capital fund is important to the university, as helps to fund operations.

The commitment to sustainability includes an investment of $10 million in the BlackRock Global Renewable Power III Fund, which backs such projects as an onshore wind facility in Norway and a floating solar farm in Taiwan.

All of the fund’s projects are in alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The UVSS and Divest UVic aren’t done fighting, however, and are urging the University of Victoria Foundation to follow UVic’s lead and remove fossil fuel investments from its Long-Term Endowment Fund.

Coward said the foundation has its own responsible investment policy “that continues to evolve.” He said the foundation has taken steps to establish and update its investment policy and be transparent about its investment decisions.

Investments in fossil fuel equity holdings have been reduced to two per cent in 2020 from eight per cent in 2017, he said, as a result of the foundation’s “responsible investment belief.”

jbell@timescolonist.com

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Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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