‘There’s still so much that we’re not doing’: Divest MTA leads climate protest Friday
This Friday, the students of Divest MTA will lead the Mount Allison community in another Fridays for Future global climate strike protest. Divest MTA is a long standing collective movement that is demanding Mount Allison divest its endowment funds from fossil fuels companies. But Friday’s protest has a broader call, says Divest member Kate DesRoches.
“It’s definitely part of a bigger movement that pushes for comprehensive climate action,” says DesRoches. “Our main ask is still divestment, but the Fridays for Future strikes are part of a global movement that is pushing for climate action in general.”
Divest MTA is starting the academic year on the heels of some successes from last year.
“We have a lot of momentum right now, despite the pandemic,” says DesRoches. “This past year, we’ve received a lot of support from the Mount A community. Even the university president has publicly supported us.”
One feather in the cap of the Divest MtA collective was a university talk featuring David Suzuki in November 2021, when the long-time environmentalist lambasted the University for its continued refusal to divest from fossil fuels.
“I think it’s disgraceful that after seven years Mount Allison hasn’t divested,” said Suzuki.… Continue
Students renew call for Mount A to divest from fossil fuels ahead of climate strike
Climate justice activists at Mount Allison University and their supporters will be getting their hands dirty on Friday as part of student-led climate strike actions happening around the world.
Their handprints will cover a banner painted with images from the fossil fuel industry – an oil well and two smokestacks belching black smoke – and bearing the words “People Not Profit.”
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” said student activist Kate DesRoches. “Put the people over the profit, literally.”
DesRoches is a member of Divest MTA, a student activist group that campaigns for Mount A to move its investment funds out of fossil fuels.
She said there’s a tension between what students learn in the classroom about climate change, and how the university uses its money. You can listen to her interview with CHMA here:
The artwork is part of student-led actions happening internationally as part of the Fridays for Future movement.
Divest MTA is part of a movement calling for institutional investors around the world to move trillions of dollars out of fossil fuels.
Universities have multimillion dollar funds called endowments which they use to generate cash.
By the end of 2020, Mount Allison’s endowment was worth more than $170 million, according to information publicly available on the university’s website. … Continue