The AMS and students-at-large are calling on the University to align its investments with sustainability.
Queen’s Backing Action on the Climate Crisis (QBACC) started a petition to demand Queen’s divest from fossil fuel investments. The petition has garnered over 600 signatures since Feb. 1. According to QBACC Co-President and AMS Commissioner of External Affairs Dreyden George, ArtSci ’26, they plan on submitting the petition to the University within the next week, aiming to establish a divestment committee. QBACC, an AMS-ratified club focused on reducing fossil fuel reliance, argues since the University states they value environmental sustainability, outlined in its Partnering for a Greener Future page, the institution’s investments should reflect them.
QBACC’s petition received formal from the AMS during November’s Special General Assembly, where a motion ed for the Society to endorse QBACC’s petition for Queen’s to divest its $1.492 billion endowment fund from fossil fuels. In an interview with The Journal, George explained why it was particularly important to receive during that assembly.
READ MORE: First Special General Assembly of the year sees multiple motions debated
“We wanted to do it at Special General Assembly where every student has a vote. It’s kind of even more of a consensus-building nature, we thought,” George said.
In an interview with The Journal, George cited examples of other North American post secondary institutions already undergoing fossil fuel divestment, including Brown University in 2020, Columbia University in 2017, Cornell University in 2020, the University of Toronto in 2022, and New York University in 2023.
Outlined in procedure two of the University’s current Responsible Investing Policy, a petition requires 200 signatures and a minimum of 20 signatures must come from three of the following groups: faculty, staff, students, alumni, and retirees.
The secretariat will then the request and send it to the principal, who will convene a review committee for responsible investment. This committee will then advise the principal if they think further action is necessary.
George said the last time QBACC successfully ran a petition like this was in 2019, when the University committed to slowly decarbonizing its portfolio, meaning Queen’s total investment portfolio has to balance out at zero carbon. This allowed the University to remain invested in fossil fuels as long as they’re also invested in renewable energy.
In an interview with The Journal, AMS Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability Anne Fu, HealthSci ’25, explained the commission’s decision to QBACC’s petition comes in accordance with the AMS’s Principles and Positions policies which were created in 2021.
“Queen’s must fully divest from all fossil fuel investment portfolios and develop a comprehensive Environmental Policy to improve the sustainability of our campus and operations,”
Fu outlined some of the ways the AMS is offering to QBACC.
“Some things we want to do is just being ive of QBACC in this petition, promoting it for them, putting it on our social media, doing outreach through news, to make it clear that this [QBACC’s petition] is something that we believe in,” Fu said, outlining the AMS gives QBACC a strategic advantage in negotiations with the University.
“Because we are the prime representative for the undergraduate student body here at Queen’s, we can use that status […]to further persuade the University and persuade them more effectively, particularly because we have those preexisting connections and ties to them already, and they see us as a legitimate body that they can negotiate with,” Fu said.
Fu said the AMS’s for QBACC will continue and will advocate for the club’s needs when necessary.
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