| dc.description.abstract | Anthropogenic climate change is impacting the lives of people around the world; many
institutions have, therefore, committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (Cabusch et al).
Fossil fuel investment, the act of selling off subsidiary investments, is one tool for targeted
environmental impact reduction. Divest Dalhousie (n.d. a) is a student group campaigning for
Dalhousie University to divest its endowment fund from the top 200 fossil fuel companies (Top
200); one concern with divestment is the potential negative impact on the fiduciary responsibility
to Dalhousie’s investors (Dalhousie Board of Governors, 2014). In this report, we examine the
returns on investment for Dalhousie’s endowment fund holdings in the Top 200; we then compare
these returns to a hypothetical renewable energy portfolio. Our findings suggest that Dalhousie’s
Top 200 investments generated a negative return rate in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Our
hypothetical renewable energy portfolio generated a higher return. We also discuss the
implications of diversification and risk, as well as longer timelines for investments. | en_US |
