What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
In 2015, each member of the United Nations Member States adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 goals are a “universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.” They require a collaborative, bold, integrative approach for their achievement. These goals are considered “integrated”, as the progress towards one goal will assist in the progress of other goals due to their interconnected nature.
The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings assess the progress that universities around the world have made within each of the 17 SDGs. The 2021 rankings included 1,117 universities across 94 countries. York University ranks 67th overall and 11th in Canada. While York has made commendable progress in several areas of sustainability, it is clear that the University needs to take bold steps to address the climate emergency in order to maintain its place as a Canadian and global sustainability leader.
As stated in an announcement by York University in April 2021, “York’s ongoing success in the THE Impact Rankings is owed entirely to our community of positive change-makers. With so many projects, initiatives, and partnerships underway, and many more in development, York is eager to continue to expand the work that makes the world a better place to live, learn, and work.” By collaborating with YU Fossil Free and meeting our six calls to action, York University can make significant progress towards the wider range of SDGs, advance its position as a sustainability leader, and contribute to a more climate-resilient and just future.
How are the SDGs related to divestment?
The SDGs cover a wide range of societal, environmental, and economic challenges. Goals 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and 13 (Climate Action) are most commonly considered when discussing fossil fuel divestment. However, fossil fuel divestment can directly and indirectly advance many SDGs. Fossil fuel divestment, rather than being a niche, ‘tangential’ approach to climate action, is a highly impactful, urgent, and necessary action needed to advance progress towards the SDGs over the next nine years, and should be viewed holistically.
This article will further describe the connections between divestment, climate change, and Goals 3, 7, 11,12, and 13. The remaining SDGs will be discussed in a future article.
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Goal 7 aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. Indicators relevant to divestment include:
the proportion of the global population that primarily relies on clean energy
the share of renewable energy compared to all global energy sources
international financial contributions to developing countries to develop and research clean energy production
investments in sustainable, efficient energy as a percentage of GDP.
It is clear that this goal heavily emphasizes the need to drastically alter our primary energy sources and move away from fossil fuels within the next decade. Renewable energy sources made up only 17% of global energy consumption in 2017, and as stated in a 2020 United Nations SDG progress report, “much faster growth is required to meet long-term climate goals”.
Divesting financial assets from fossil fuels and investing in clean energy solutions can accelerate the progress towards this SDG. In the UNDP Policy Brief #3: Financing SDG 7, bringing direct financial incentives such as carbon pricing and economic policies into alignment with fossil fuel divestment is listed as a priority action. A 2018 report from the World Bank includes fossil fuel divestment under recent developments, emerging and future trends for carbon pricing, and drivers of GHG emission reductions. A clean, sustainable future in energy will not be achieved as long as fossil fuel companies are funded and subsidized. Divestment not only removes financial support from this outdated, damaging form of energy production, but can also accelerate research, development, and implementation of global cleaner energy solutions.
The THE Impact Rankings include divestment policy as a measure of progress towards SDG 7. York University ranked 100-200th in this SDG, indicating a need for significant improvement. Committing to divestment from both the Endowment and Pension Funds, as well as reducing the energy usage on-campus are impactful and achievable steps that must be taken by York University.
Goal 13: Climate Action
Goal 13 aims to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. The climate emergency is the greatest current threat to society. Climate change impacts are already being felt in Canada and around the world, while the climate crisis reinforces and exacerbates deep societal and global inequities. At the university level, fossil fuel divestment drives important conversations regarding sustainability and climate justice, and challenges the complicit behaviour of universities in the fossil fuel economy. Furthermore, divestment has been shown to be an effective approach to ethical investment, managing climate change-related financial risks, and reducing the carbon footprint of investment portfolios - a vital step for mitigating future climate change impacts. SDG 13 highlights the need to rapidly reduce GHG emissions and foster climate-resilient communities and economies.
In 2016, global fossil fuel investments exceeded climate initiative investments by $100 billion dollars ($781 billion versus $681 billion, respectively). From a financial perspective, climate change is a material risk for investors. Furthermore, fossil fuel divestment has not been found to impact portfolio performance, nor have negative impacts been found when examining divestment within university endowment funds. Universities can become climate leaders by taking immediate, impactful actions such as divestment. While the direct impacts of fossil fuel divestment on reducing carbon emissions may be gradual and limited, the indirect impacts such as momentum building, fueling discourse, and shifting perspectives within governments and institutions are critical to sparking widespread change and moving towards a low-carbon society by 2030.
York University ranked 200-300th in SDG 13, with one of the lowest rankings in Canada. As stated in the Impact Rankings methodology document, “Climate change is a crisis that will affect every part of society, and every country. Universities need to be at the forefront of action to reduce the impact of climate change, especially amongst the poorest who will be the most affected.” The indicators for SDG 13 closely align with YU Fossil Free’s calls for carbon transparency and the creation of a decarbonization plan. Both are necessary to reduce York University’s carbon footprint and environmental impact.
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
Goal 3 aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” The climate crisis has been cited as the largest global health threat that requires urgent action to protect current and future generations. The increased variability and extreme nature of climate and weather is a significant threat to human health. Natural disasters such as hurricanes are becoming more frequent and extreme around the world, resulting in over 475,000 deaths within the last two decades. The overwhelming majority of which occurred in developing countries. Extreme temperatures and heat waves have been directly linked to 166,000 deaths from 1998-2017. They are also indirectly responsible for health impacts such as aggravated cardiovascular and respiratory disease, exacerbated asthma attacks through higher pollen and allergen levels in extreme heat, and malnutrition through loss of crops, resulting in 3.1 million deaths each year. Rising sea levels and increased rainfall can contaminate freshwater supplies, while droughts have short- and long-term health implications. Zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, dengue, and malaria will have longer transmission seasons and spread to larger geographic regions due to warmer global temperatures.
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated global healthcare systems, and has significantly delayed many of SDG 3’s targets. Comprehensive, coordinated global efforts are needed to improve healthcare around the world and address the myriad health impacts of climate change that will place increasing strain on healthcare systems. The 2020 UN SDG progress report also cites the need for increased spending on health systems to meet global healthcare needs.
Fossil fuel divestment provides two vital opportunities in relation to SDG 3; accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy (to mitigate rising temperatures and climate impacts); and investing in a climate-safe future. This must include strengthened, resilient healthcare that is accessible worldwide. All six of YU Fossil Free’s calls to action address one or both of the above opportunities.
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Goal 11 aims to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.” Target 11.5, to “significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters [...] with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations” by 2030, relates to SDG 3 as explained above. Target 11.6 utilizes annual mean PM2.5 and PM10 levels to measure progress. Particulate matter (PM) air pollution poses a wide range of threats to human health and life expectancy, with PM2.5 posing greater threats to health due to its smaller size. Fossil fuel combustion is a major source of ambient PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. A European Environment Agency assessment attributed 68% of PM10 and 81% of PM2.5 emissions to energy-related coal and oil combustion. These emissions have been found to drastically decrease through the transition to cleaner energy sources. Divesting from fossil fuels and transitioning to a low-carbon economy will aid in the mitigation of climate-related health impacts, help build more resilient communities, and reduce air pollution such as fine particulate matter.
In the 2021 Times Higher Education Global Impact Rankings, York University was ranked 24th in the world for SDG 11 (tied with Concordia University). Out of the 24 universities that ranked higher than York in SDG 11, nine have either divested from fossil fuels, or committed to partial or full divestment, while an additional nine (including York University) have strong student and/or faculty-led campaigns calling on their postsecondary institution to divest from fossil fuels (see the full list below).
Divested or committed to fossil fuel divestment:
University of Manchester (1st)
King’s College London (=6th)
Simon Fraser University (=6th)
University of Leeds (9th)
Newcastle University (=11th)
University College Cork (=13th)
University of Ortago (13th)
Concordia University (=24th)
Student and/or faculty-led divestment campaigns:
Arizona State University (2nd)
Monash University (3rd)
University of Sydney (4th)
Queen’s University (8th)
RMIT University (=13th)
Penn State (=16)
University of Wollogong (22nd)
York University (=24th)
While SDG 11 is York University’s highest ranking out of all 17 SDGs, additional progress can and should be made. York University must take action on indicators such as affordable housing and sustainable practices to make further progress in this SDG. York University must also commit to divesting from fossil fuels in order to keep up with global and Canadian university sustainability leaders.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Goal 12 aims to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. Target 12.c aims to “rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts.” Furthermore, as stated in the 2020 UN SDG report, “rising fossil fuel subsidies are contributing to the climate crisis”. The elimination of fossil fuel investments and subsidies is vital for achieving SDG 12. Research has shown that the impact of divestment on capital flows for the oil and gas sector is decreased in countries with significant fossil fuel subsidies. Divestment movements can help build momentum and fuel further calls for action, such as an end to government fossil fuel subsidies and the creation of sustainable consumption and production national action plans, as listed in Target 12.1. Divestment is an important and necessary first step towards responsible consumption and production.
York ranked 67th on this SDG, though this ranking is lower than 13 of the other 18 Canadian universities included in this year’s rankings. Indicators for this SDG include ethical sourcing policies and the publication of sustainability reports. Our call for impact investment has the potential to closely align with York’s recently-established social procurement policy, which aims to enhance “the social well-being of our surrounding communities and assist[s] to reduce poverty, promote economic and social inclusion, and support local economic development and social enterprise.” YU Fossil Free also calls on York University to incorporate its investment portfolio within the university’s sustainability strategy. York University’s investment portfolio’s carbon footprint is currently excluded from this strategy. YU Fossil Free calls on York University to publish an annual carbon audit in the Board of Governors’ Sustainable Investment Reports.
It is clear that divestment is a vital action that can positively impact progress towards a wide range of SDGs. YU Fossil Free calls on York University to step up and take the necessary, bold actions needed to establish and maintain its position as a sustainability and climate leader. Our six calls to action will advance York University’s position in these rankings, while also supporting the creation of a climate-resilient, just future for all.
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