We are pleased to announce that UTAM has signed the “2018 Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change,” released earlier this month by a group of investor alliances and the organizations behind CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and other initiatives.

UTAM, on behalf of the University of Toronto, joined 318 other investors – representing more than USD $28 trillion in assets – in reiterating the need for governments to implement the actions set out by the Paris Agreement “with the utmost urgency.” The statement calls upon G7 and G20 governments to do three things:

  • Update and strengthen national commitments to the emissions reduction goal of the Paris Agreement, completing the process no later than 2020.
  • Accelerate, through specific policy and legislative changes, private sector investment in companies that are driving the low carbon transition.
  • Commit to improve climate-related financial reporting by supporting globally recognized standards and recommendations

UTAM also participated in the 2017 Global Investor Statement, as well as last year’s letter writing campaign by CDP asking companies to complete CDP’s climate change questionnaire. Both initiatives are part of a broader commitment to responsible investing that includes our active support for Climate Action 100+, an investor-led initiative to engage with more than 100 of the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters, and our signing of the Montréal Carbon Pledge, which commits UTAM to publicly disclosing the carbon footprint of the University’s Pension and Endowment investment portfolios.

UTAM’s Responsible Investing Policy sets out the guidelines for our decision-making in this area, from the management of internal processes and systems to our conduct of proxy voting and ESG-related engagements. For details of how we put this policy into action, please see our 2017 Responsible Investing Report.

View the 2018 Statement