Pages tagged "AASHE STARS"

Colorado State University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · June 24, 2015 1:37 PM

Colorado State University 

Endowment Value: $558 million (2021)

Colorado State University is a public university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The CSU Foundation manages the endowment. The University’s strong commitment to sustainability has earned it the highest rank in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS).

In 2016, the CSU Foundation published the sustainability strategic plan for the purpose of establishing a set of goals and timelines. The plan includes an effort to increase sustainable investments. The Committee on Investor Responsibility, composed of students, faculty, foundation board members, and other stakeholders, is “explicitly charged with developing and supporting initiatives in sustainable investment as outlined by the Socially Responsible Investment Policy.” According to its most recent STARS report, The CSU Foundation has invested into three different funds that focus on supporting Colorado technology and on improving social and environmental conditions in Colorado. The CSU Foundation continues to pursue other socially responsible investment opportunities that preserve the endowment.

Colorado State University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Platinum
  • ACUPCC: No
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: No
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources from Columbia University:

 

 

 

Stanford University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · June 16, 2015 11:09 AM

Stanford University 

Endowment Value: $37.8 billion (Aug. 2021) 

Stanford University is a private university located in Stanford, California with approximately 17,000 students. The Stanford Management Company (SMC) and Board of Trustees oversee the endowment. 

Stanford is currently one of only six higher education institutions to earn the highest rank in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), due to its significant efforts to integrate social and environmental awareness into its curriculum, operations, and investments.

Since its adoption of a statement on investor responsibility in 1971, Stanford has recognized its responsibility as an investor and has periodically outlined and updated policies to guide its commitment to responsible investment in a contemporary context. The SMC’s Ethical Investment Framework was adopted in 2018 to govern and complement Stanford’s existing statement. According to the framework, investment decisions are guided based on the understanding that businesses are far more likely to endure and generate sustainable returns on investor capital when they behave with due regard for the welfare of their stakeholders and the communities in which they operate. Stanford currently has a Special Committee on Investment Responsibility (SCIR) of the Board of Trustees as well as Investment Responsibility and Stakeholder Relations (IRSR) office to review proposals submitted by the community and function as an ad-hoc, issue-based fact-finding committee responsible for research and campus engagement where needed.

As such, Stanford’s efforts to address environmental, social, and governance issues through investment has manifested in adopting a climate change proxy voting guideline to support resolutions for companies to analyze levels of greenhouse gas emissions and develop plans to reduce and/or eliminate them. Stanford has adopted policies that preclude owning specific companies with operations implicated in Sudanese human rights abuses, the tobacco industry, and companies whose principal business is coal mining for electricity.

In 2018, Stanford committed $10 million over a 10-year period to develop an expanded platform of educational and research opportunities for students and faculty with interests in responsible investing and governance.

In June 2020, the Stanford Board of Trustees reported a major reduction in the university’s fossil fuel investments. Less than 1.5% of the university’s endowment is now exposed to the fossil fuel industry and the university’s endowment has no direct holdings in the top 100 oil and gas companies. In addition, the Board of Trustees stated that the university would be accelerating its transition to efficient energy sources in hopes of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Stanford University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Platinum
  • ACUPCC: No
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, coal only
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:

 

Yale University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · June 08, 2015 8:11 PM

Yale University 

Endowment Value: $42.3 billion (June 2021)

Yale University is a private research university located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest higher education institution in the United States and has a total student body of more than 12,000. Its endowment is managed by the Investments Office under the guidance of Yale’s Investment Committee and led by Chief Investment Officer David F. Swenson.

Yale was one of the first institutions to formally address the ethical responsibilities of institutional investors. In the 1970s, Yale established the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility (ACIR) and the Corporation Committee on Investor Responsibility (CCIR) to address issues of socially responsible investing. The ACIR and CCIR recommend policy to the Yale Corporation, the university’s governing body, and implement approved policy.

In 2014, in response to pressure from the student group Fossil Free Yale, the CCIR and ACIR explored the possibility of fossil fuel divestment. As a result of this discussion, the CCIR adopted a proxy voting guideline on climate change, instructing managers to support “shareholder resolutions seeking company disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, analyses of the impact of climate change on a company’s business activities, strategies designed to reduce the company’s long-term impact on the global climate, and company support of sound and effective governmental policies on climate change."

Climate change was officially announced as a consideration in Yale’s investment strategy in April 2016. In a letter to the ACIR, CIO David Swensen wrote, “the Investments Office approaches the climate change issue more broadly by considering any exposure with risk related to climate change and potential regulations aimed at reducing emissions.” Swensen also reported that after months of talking with Yale’s external investment managers about the potential risks associated with investments in coal and oil, around $10 million of the endowment has been removed from two publicly-traded fossil fuel producers.

Yale currently has a robust student-managed socially responsible investment fund. Established in 2016 and initially seeded with $50,000 from the Dwight Hall organization endowment, the fund’s main goal is to outperform standard investment benchmarks and maximize financial return while positively contributing to social impact areas including the environment, education, and employment.

Yale University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
  • ACUPCC: No
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, partial
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:

Swarthmore College

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · May 04, 2015 5:25 PM

Swarthmore College

Endowment Value: $2.90 billion (2021)

Swarthmore College is a private liberal arts college located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. The college's Finance and Investment offices manage the endowment. The Board of Managers oversees the endowment.

Swarthmore students are among the first to establish a campus fossil fuel divestment campaign.  In 2010, students established Swarthmore Mountain Justice to call on the administration to divest after witnessing mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia.

Although it has yet to fully divest from fossil fuels, Swarthmore does consider ESG factors, including making it a criterion in manager selection, engaging in dialogue with existing managers, and divestment from coal companies. Furthermore, Swarthmore has pledged to expand the environmental studies curriculum and improve on-campus energy efficiency. Its Committee on Investor Responsibility provides proxy voting recommendations on shareholder resolutions addressing social issues.

 In 2015, the Board established a fossil-fuel free fund for donors that wish to contribute to Swarthmore’s endowment. Swarthmore currently has several environmental sustainability funds designated for green project grants, environmental studies scholarships, and internships.

In 2019, Swarthmore College was awarded an Excellence in Sustainability Award by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). NACUBO commended Swarthmore’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2035 and its Carbon Charge Program, which creates an internal price on carbon emissions.

Swarthmore College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • AASHE STARs: Yes, Silver
  • ACUPCC: Yes, Climate Neutral by 2035
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: No
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: No
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:

 

Brandeis University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · May 04, 2015 3:08 PM

Brandeis University 

Endowment Value: $1.3 billion (2021)

Brandeis University is a private college in Waltham, Massachusetts. The Brandeis Sustainability Fund provides financial support for Brandeis undergraduate students willing to undertake projects and/or activities to improve Brandeis’s environmental sustainability.

Brandeis University has a strong history of leadership in social justice, a legacy that has impacted its endowment management policies. Since its adoption of a Responsible Investor General Guideline by the Board of Trustees in 1973, Brandeis University has strived to be conscious of the social and environmental impact of its investments and exercises its ethical responsibilities as an investor. Following significant student activism and the recommendations of an exploratory committee on fossil fuel divestment, in November of 2018, the president of Brandeis officially announced the Board of Trustee’s decision to adopt a coal divestment policy. Furthermore, the president’s announcement stated that the investment office and the board’s investment committee would take measures to find investments in renewable energy sources and technologies focused on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Brandeis University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

Humboldt State University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · April 12, 2015 4:01 PM

Humboldt State University 

Endowment Value: $32.1 million (2020)

Humboldt State University is a part of the California State University System located in Arcata, California. The Humboldt State University Advancement Foundation (HSUAF) oversees the endowment and uses negative screening to reduce its investments in harmful industries. 

In 2013, students approached the HSUAF at an associated students meeting to advocate for divestment from fossil fuels. In response, the HSUAF took many steps to advance its tradition of environmental sustainability. The Social and Environmentally Responsible Offset Policy (SEROP) was adopted in April of 2014, making HSU the first state University in the US to commit to full fossil fuel divestment. That same year, the HSUAF decided to direct 10% of its portfolio to green funds and explored creating a “Green Challenge,” allowing for another 10% of the portfolio to be shifted to green funds for every $500,000 donated to the endowment.

In 2016, the HSU Office of Sustainability published a comprehensive Climate Action Plan that outlines more than 50 action items to achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. HSU also became a Charter Signatory for the Campus Climate Commitment, which encompasses the goals of achieving both carbon neutrality as well as improving community resilience.

Humboldt State University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:  

  • IEN Founding Member (2016)
  • AASHE STARS: No
  • ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral By 2050
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, fossil free divestment
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

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