University posts commitment to divest on one of its websites.

A group of University of B.C. students ended their five-day hunger strike on Friday after receiving a clarification from the school on fossil-fuel divestment.

The hunger strike, which started Monday to coincide with the beginning of the term, was organized by Extinction Rebellion UBC, the university’s branch of the U.K.-based, non-violent group of climate change activists that has launched chapters around the world. The group wants politicians to take urgent action on climate change and disappearing wildlife, and for governments to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025.

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The strikers were demanding the UBC board of governors make a public commitment to sell all fossil-fuel company stocks in UBC’s $1.71 billion main endowment pool. The UBC board has been studying fossil-fuel divestment and the details of transferring $380 million of the main university endowment into the university’s fund to back the school’s sustainable future, established in 2017.

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The demand followed UBC President Santa Ono’s declaration of a climate emergency last month after years of tireless campaigning by students in UBCC350, XR UBC, and other student-led political climate action groups.

Extinction Rebellion said the board wasn’t moving fast enough to commit itself to divestment, so launched the hunger strike. The eight students participating in the action, ranging in age from 19 to 22, occupied an area outside the Alumni Centre and in the lobby each day from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. all week long. For 97 hours, their intake consisted of just water and vitamins.

On Friday, the group said they had received an assurance that the UBC board was committed to fully divestment.

“The board is clear: UBC is committed to full divestment as soon as possible, and we are taking the necessary steps to realize this now,” said a clarification posted on a university website. “The university shares and understands the community’s concerns regarding the climate crisis and that the continued operation of the fossil fuel industry is discordant with a climate safe future.”

“The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time and UBC wants to ensure that our community and the public is informed of the actions the university is taking as a leader in sustainability and climate action,” it said.

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While the activist group was pleased with the announcement, its still wants more.

“This is the bare minimum,” said 20-year-old geography student Emma Pham, one of the eight hunger strikers. “UBC needs to use its endowment to actually invest in a sustainable economy, be completely carbon-neutral, and create a binding citizen’s assembly on climate and ecological justice so that it’s accountable to the community and the Musqueam nation on whose stolen land we sit.”

“This announcement marks a shift in UBC’s noncommittal and piecemeal policies and statements into something the institution can actually be held accountable to,” said Laura Sullivan, who speaks for Extinction Rebellion UBC. “UBC is only starting to actually do the work to back up greenwashing rhetoric with material commitments. … They should have done this years ago.”