Stories

A proposed six-storey building with approximately 100 units at the intersection of Victoria Drive and Stainsbury Avenue in East Vancouver. The project is a partnership between BC Housing, the City of Vancouver (through the Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency), More Than a Roof Housing Society, and the UBC Sustainability Initiative.

The project represents a path-breaking approach that seeks to simultaneously address housing affordability in Vancouver, while offering an innovative, zero-emission building standard.

The UBC Sustainability Initiative will capture and document the knowledge that will emanate from this project and support the dissemination of this knowledge to relevant stakeholders in the region.

A new $23 million renewable energy hub will transform an entire city block at the University of British Columbia into a smart energy district, including the province’s first-ever hydrogen refuelling station for light and heavy-duty vehicles.

A key feature is a water electrolyzer that uses electricity from the solar panels to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, resulting in “green hydrogen” — or 100 per cent renewable hydrogen. The process does not emit carbon emissions. It will also include the addition of a solar array, as well as intelligent charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

The electric vehicle charging stations have been installed and will be operational by the end of the summer. The hydrogen refuelling centre is scheduled to open in March next year, followed by the commissioning of the solar array in October.

UBC professor and UN Special Rapporteur David Boydhas established a new mechanism - a researchathon - that seeks to elicit Indigenous perspectives, communities and worldviews to shape the development and implementation of climate-related initiatives and policies.

Professor David Boyd (SPPGA; IRES), UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, and Marcos A Orellana, UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, are gathering information on “sacrifice zones,” places of severe pollution or environmental degradation where profits have been prioritized over people.

Information received will be used for a report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022.

The energy youth have shown in putting climate change on the political agenda and global protests in support of social justice this past year remind us that this generation has a vision for a post-pandemic world that is more sustainable and equitable for everyone.

At the University of British Columbia, a groundswell of student climate activism in recent years prompted the university to join organizations around the world in declaring a global climate emergency and committing to full divestment of investments from the fossil fuel industry.

However, more urgent progress is now needed, as the university mobilizes its institutional education, research and innovation capacity in continuing pursuit of climate solutions.

As part of UBC’s commitment to a low-carbon, sustainable future and divesting the endowment, the university is pleased to share that $34M of endowment funds have been transitioned to fossil-fuel-free investments.

In late 2019, the university directed UBC Investment Management Trust Inc. (UBC IMANT) to develop and adopt an investment approach that builds on existing responsible investing practices, further addresses climate risk, and helps to drive positive social change.

UBC and UBC IMANT will continue to demonstrate leadership among universities and endowments as this responsible investing journey continues. Progress planned for 2021 includes divesting further funds to fossil-fuel-free funds with lower emissions, establishing an active ownership policy, and incorporating climate risk analysis into an asset mix study.

Student activism, including on divestment on fossil fuels, is an important part of UBC's climate emergency story. Climate Justice UBC, a student group, prepared and produced this video to tell the story of UBC's fossil fuel divestment from their perspective.

One of the priority areas identified in the resulting Climate Emergency Task Force Report is to, "Demonstrate Institutional Leadership on Climate Justice", and the report makes a number of recommendations on divestment. This report is now being implemented under the mandate of the UBC Board of Governors Sustainability & Climate Action Committee , who consider matters relating to sustainability, climate action, and responsible investment at UBC.

B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and internationally renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg will receive honorary degrees from UBC this spring.

Thunberg, 18, has gained international recognition for challenging world leaders to take immediate, science-based action against climate change, and for sparking climate-change activism in many parts of the world.

A three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, she has given speeches at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; at the European Parliament; in front of the legislatures of Italy, France, the United Kingdom and the United States; at the 2019 UN Youth Climate Summit in New York, to which she famously traveled on an emissions‐free yacht; and the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid.

In December 2019, UBC declared a climate emergency. As a result, the university is developing an ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP2030) aimed at implementing strategies that will result in emissions reductions from UBC’s core operations by 2030 through clean energy solutions and energy-efficient technologies.

Now we’re turning to you, members of the UBC community, to share your valuable insights around what we can all do to help meet our goals. Come to one of our virtual events to learn more about CAP2030 and fill out a survey to share your perspective!

All survey participants will be entered into a draw to win a $100 gift card.

UBC Investment Management Trust Inc. (UBC IMANT) is pleased to report it has committed $110 million to be managed by Impax Asset Management (Impax), a specialist asset manager which invests in opportunities arising from the transition to a more sustainable global economy.

Reinforcing UBC’s commitment to address the global climate emergency, UBC IMANT expects its investment managers to consider ESG factors in all of their decision‐making – and is evaluating and holding fund managers accountable to this performance.

Responsible Investing progress planned for 2021 includes transferring additional funds to lower emission and fossil fuel free funds, establishing an active ownership policy, and incorporating climate risk analysis into portfolio analytics and asset mix study.

Who didn’t have a shiver running down their spine listening to U.S. Youth Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman’s poem, “The Hill We Climb”? I know I did. In part, because I know that when it comes to climate change, we’re a long way off from justice.

The notion of climate justice confronts the fact that marginalized people the world over suffer from environmental damage they had no part in creating. There’s injustice in the form of personal responsibility for climate change. The richest one percent produce more than double the carbon emissions of the poorest half of humanity.

In this Georgia Straight article, The UBC Sustainability Initiative's Senior Director, Linda Nowlan, described the inspiration behind a new series of free Climate Justice public webinars beginning March 5. Read more.