Steve Easterbrook, Director of the School of Environment at U of T and a professor at the Department of Computer Science who is researching the applications of computer science and software engineering to the challenge of the climate crisis, wrote to The Varsity about U of T’s lack of action toward the issue.
“To put it bluntly, it is hypocritical for a University to claim to be at the forefront of knowledge production while simultaneously investing in companies that knowingly undermine that mission by spreading disinformation,” Easterbrook wrote.
“It’s now increasingly clear that fossil fuel companies are extremely risky investments, and that by refusing to divest, the University of Toronto is losing money,” wrote Easterbrook. “It’s notable that when the University of California divested, they cited financial risk, rather than climate change as their primary motivation.”
