Meet the Minds Behind U of T’s Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign — Perspectives from Sydney Gram and Paloma Alaminos
Author: Emily Nguyen
Fossil fuel divestment is an attempt to address climate change by exerting social, political, and economic pressure for the institutional divestment of assets such as stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments connected to companies involved in fossil fuel extraction. Although several US and Australian academic institutions have divested, their Canadian counterparts continue to hold ties with oil companies.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Sydney Gram and Paloma Alaminos from the Leap University of Toronto chapter. Sydney is a 4th year undergraduate student specializing in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and majoring in Genome Biology. Paloma recently graduated with an undergraduate degree. She double majored in History and Bioethics while minoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She is currently in her 1st year at U of T’s Law School. During our conversation, Sydney and Paloma provided insight into Leap’s unique perspective on fossil fuel divestment and ways to get involved with the movement.
What are the main initiatives of Leap?
Leap is a student activist group working towards climate justice. They relaunched U of T’s fossil fuel divestment campaign and work to connect the campaign to broader, intersectional support for environmental and social justice. The group is also involved in solidarity work within the local community. For instance, they partner with movements such as 15 and Fairness and the Fridays for Future climate strike.
A large amount of pension and endowment funds from U of T are invested into oil companies, thereby providing them with a social license to continue existing. We believe that fossil fuel divestment would be a large and meaningful action that the university could take to address the climate crisis. — Sydney
Leap also works with the coalition Divestment and Beyond, consisting of U of T faculty and alumni supporting the divestment movement.
When did you get involved with Leap and what are your roles within the group?
Sydney joined Leap in her 1st year of undergraduate studies. Notably, she started and organizes the group’s book club.
Environmental justice runs parallel to so many issues. As such, Leap members read books about interconnected issues related to environmental justice to better stand in solidarity with these topics. Our aim is to help people understand how the climate justice movement connects with other issues such as queer justice and Indigenous sovereignty. — Sydney
Leap’s members have read more than 20 books together and have had informative discussions surrounding the content. Each individual processes information differently and the book club provides them with an opportunity to share their personal experiences and listen to other’s perspectives.
Sydney is also responsible for connecting Leap U of T to external campaigns such as the Divest Canada Coalition, a collection of 17 divestment movements at Canadian universities.
Paloma joined Leap at the start of her 3rd year of undergraduate studies and has been more involved over the course of the pandemic. She collaborates with the group’s logistics team to develop Leap’s constitution, set up virtual meetings, and create social media content. She also aids with outreach initiatives. For example, Paloma promotes Leap at the Progressive Clubs Fair and U of T Law School events.
A unique feature of Leap is that the group has a horizontal structure of power. We focus on sharing responsibilities between members rather than assigning rigid roles. Our group is quite non-hierarchical and instead focuses on equal participation. — Paloma
What sparked your interest in environmental sustainability and joining Leap?
I’ve always felt that certain environmentalism movements are not large enough. I wanted to make a more substantial change which prompted me to join Leap. In addition, universities are in a position of great power. By investing in fossil fuel companies, they are giving them social capital and social license, which has a detrimental impact on our environment. Divestment acts as a method to address this issue.— Sydney
I am very interested in social justice. Working in an immigration and refugee law firm has exposed me to the experiences of displaced climate migrants. I got involved with Leap through friends in the group but also because Leap provides me with an opportunity to connect the climate crisis to important intersectional social movements. This allows me to focus on divestment as part of a broader whole, related to racial, economic, and Indigenous justice. — Paloma
What are some ways you think individuals can change their lifestyle to be more mindful of the planet?
Write letters to the government, join organizations, sign petitions. Ultimately, it comes down to educating yourself and others on climate change. — Sydney
Both Sydney and Paloma stressed the importance of joining larger environmental justice groups to make their individual voices heard. They mentioned that large scale climate change action cannot be solely based on individualistic actions. Although practices such as reduced plastic use and green thinking can help, they do not change the status quo that enables industries to continuing exploiting the Earth.
Do you have any suggestions for someone who wants to make a positive impact on the Earth but doesn’t know where to start?
Join Leap U of T! Our weekly meetings are accessible and open to all. We post Zoom links on our Facebook along with an agenda for individuals to view the issues that we will discuss. The colleges at U of T also have great sustainability commissions that host environmental awareness events. For instance, Victoria College and University College. — Sydney
Leap is great in that there is no hard time commitment. Each person can take on as much as they feel comfortable doing. We also provide an orientation for new members where we provide a background on divestment, Leap’s organizational structure, and how our chapter approaches issues. — Paloma
Environmental sustainability can be addressed from multiple angles. As Sydney and Paloma discussed, it is interconnected with other social justice issues. Ultimately, Leap U of T advocates for institutional transparency and fossil fuel divestment to demonstrate genuine leadership in the fight against climate change. I end this article with the words of Paloma:
We must question the power structures in place to promote large scale change.
Do you know an amazing WISE that you want to nominate an for an interview? Do you have a woman that you look up to whose story you want to hear? Nominate them today by commenting on this article or by messaging our Facebook Page. You can also find us on Instagram and Twitter!
