After five days of occupation within its walls, the University of Montreal (UdeM) has undertaken to present a plan by June to get out of fossil fuels before 2025.
Posted at 6:05 p.m.
Since Monday, about thirty students occupied the lobby of the Roger-Gaudry pavilion at UdeM to put pressure on management to withdraw its investments in fossil fuels.
They broke camp on Saturday, after winning their case: a commitment from the rector, Daniel Jutras, to present by June “only one or more scenarios of total divestment before December 31, 2025”.
“I’m so proud of what we managed to do. By coming together, by campaigning together, everything we dream of, we have been able to put in place, ”says, feverish, Quentin Lehmann, who has slept on campus all week.
The last few days have not been easy. An activist who had launched a hunger strike, Vincent Vaslin, was taken to hospital on Friday after more than 4 days of fasting. Even from his hospital bed, he refused to eat until he got the university’s commitment to get out of oil.
“He’s the most resilient person I know,” says Quentin, who is studying political science. The other hunger striker, Catherine Ouellette-Marrero, broke her fast Thursday, worried about her physical and mental health, he reports.
In a letter to activists, the rector also pledged to make available “the percentage of listed shares held directly or indirectly in each stock market investment sector”. That was the activists’ other big demand: full transparency about the university’s portfolio.
“Although I deplore the use of actions taking the form of an occupation of a university space or a hunger strike, I recognize the leadership of the student movement in the implementation of responsible investment policies in the university context. “said Mr. Jutras in his letter.
He must meet the activists next Monday to discuss their “respective positions”.
Proposals initially refused
On the third day of the occupation, the leadership had presented a first series of proposals to the demonstrators, which they refused. According to them, the wording was not a clear commitment to divestment from fossil fuels by 2025.
In 2020, these actions totaled $98.2 million. UdeM spokeswoman Geneviève O’Meara says a divestment plan had been in the works for several months.
With this plan, UdeM would follow in the footsteps of the University of Quebec in Montreal and Concordia, both of which have already made a commitment to get out of oil.