Education for a sustainable tomorrow
The School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) is unique in Canada, and possibly the world, in its focus on the intersection of environment and sustainability, on one hand, and business and development on the other. With programs in sustainability management, sustainable finance and accounting, environment and business, economic development and social innovation, SEED is dedicated to developing the knowledge, tools and expertise to integrate business and development with environmental and social goals.
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Recent Publications from SEED supervisors and their students
Alexander Cimprich, Steven B. Young. July 2023. Environmental footprinting of hospitals: Organizational life cycle assessment of a Canadian hospital. Journal of Industrial Ecology
Jonathan Raikes, Daniel Henstra, Jason Thistlethwaite. July 2023. Public Attitudes Toward Policy Instruments for Flood Risk Management. Environmental Management,
Sadaf Mollaei, Leia M. Minaker, Jennifer K. Lynes, Goretty M. Dias. June 2023. Perceptions and determinants of adopting sustainable eating behaviours among university students in Canada: a qualitative study using focus group discussions. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Francisco Martin del Campo, Simron Singh, Tomer Fishman, Michael Drescher. June 2023. The Bahamas at risk Material stocks, sea-level rise, and the implications for development. Journal of Industrial Ecology,
Ankesh Siddhantakar, Jair Santillan Saldivar, Thomas Kippes, Steven B. Young. June 2023. Helium resource global supply and demand: Geopolitical supply risk analysis.
Larry Swatuk, David R. Black. May 2023. Editors’ introduction: The complexities of worlding international relations: perspectives from the margins. International Journal Canada s Journal of Global Policy Analysis
Yi-Shuai Re, SabriBoubaker, Pei-Zhi Liu, Olaf Weber. May 2023. How does carbon regulatory policy affect debt financing costs? Empirical evidence from China. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance
Adeboye Oyegunle, Olaf Weber, Amr Elalfy. April 2023. Carbon Costs and Credit Risk in a Resource-Based Economy: Carbon Cost Impact on the Z-Score of Canadian TSX 260 Companies. Journal of Management and Sustainability
Jeffrey Wilson, Céofride Gaudet, Anders Hayden. April 2023. Towards Sustainable Wellbeing: Moving beyond GDP in Canada and the World.
SEED researchers release new report showing the benefits of divesting from fossil fuels are environmental and financial
New research shows that U.S. public pension funds would be $21 billion richer had they divested from fossil fuels a decade ago.
The study, out of the University of Waterloo in partnership with Stand.earth, analyzed the public equity portfolios of six major U.S. public pension funds, which collectively represent approximately 3.4 million people, to determine the effect divesting from their energy holdings would have had. In total, researchers estimate that the pension funds would have seen a return on their investments that was 13 per cent higher on average.
Another analysis of the same eight U.S. public pension funds included in the report found that the carbon footprint that would have been reduced had they divested 10 years ago is equivalent to the emissions for powering 35 million homes per year.
Researchers say the report proves that divesting creates additional financial value, lowers exposure to climate risks, and reduced the carbon footprint of portfolios.
“Influential investors, like these large public pension funds, can bring about positive change on a few fronts,” said Dr. Olaf Weber, professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at Waterloo. “Energy divestments can create higher returns for the funds, which leads to higher returns for the beneficiaries and reduced exposure to climate risks. Consequently, it leads to safer pensions.”
The report also explored ways that recent changes in the performance of the energy sector due to major global events—such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine—would have influenced the funds. During the last three years, the value of the fossil fuel sector went up because of the reduced oil supply from Russia. Hence, divestment has not been that attractive from a financial point of view. However, the report found that even in times of high performance in the fossil fuel sector, divestment does not reduce financial returns in any significant way.
“If climate chaos like fires and floods weren’t enough, this latest report strengthens the case even further that public pension funds must divest from fossil fuels as part of meeting their fiduciary duties,” said Amy Gray, senior climate finance strategist at Stand.earth. “As the longest-term investors for workers, the last thing pension funds should be doing is gambling with retirement and deferred wages of their members.”
Future work will include going into more detail regarding the emissions of particular portfolio holdings on a per-holdings basis or analyzing the emissions of specific companies and then excluding those with the highest emissions.
"This new Waterloo data hits home for me. My mom is a beneficiary of a public pension, and my family is depending on that retirement income for security," said Miguel Alatorre Jr., Fossil Free California. "It's unconscionable to me that these funds are investing in fossil fuel companies driving climate change, heat waves, wildfires and flooding, all while losing income for workers.”
The report, The Impact of Energy Investments on the Financial Value and the Emissions of Pension Funds, was presented at the IEEFA Energy Finance Conference on June 22.
School of Environment, Enterprise and Development is delighted to welcome Professor Rosella Carè
The School of Environment, Enterprise and Development is delighted to introduce Professor Rosella Carè, who joined SEED on May 1st as Assistant Professor and the holder of the RBC Professorship in Sustainability and Financial Management.
Professor Carè joins us from the University of Cagliari, where she was Assistant Professor of Banking and Finance. She received a Ph.D. in Sciences de Gestion at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) of Paris and a Ph.D. in Healthcare Management and Economics at the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro (Italy). She currently holds a Marie Curie Research (Global) Fellowship, a prestigious and highly competitive award administered by the European Commission. Dr. Carè was a visiting researcher at the University of Waterloo in 2021/22.
Dr. Carè has served as the Principal Investigator of the research project "COPERNICUS - Social Finance for Social Enterprises: Theory and Practice to build a more inclusive society," which was funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship. Her expertise lies in the areas of social and sustainable finance, alternative finance (fintech), impact investing, sustainable banking, ESG, climate risks, and financial stability. Dr Carè has a strong record of publications, including three books in the sustainable finance area.
We look forward to the contributions Rosella will make to our department and programs, and to through the initiatives and outreach associated with the RBC Professorship in Sustainability and Financial Management.