The University of British Columbia received top marks out of 17 major Canadian universities in a North American report card on university sustainability.  The report card includes issues important to responsible investment, including endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement.

The report, known as the Green Report Card, ranked major North American universities on a broad set of indicators, including green building initiatives, recycling programs, administrative leadership and endowment investment policies.  Universities were chosen for the report card if endowment assets were more than $160 million.  The Report Card, published by the Sustainable Endowments Institute in the US, is the only independent evaluation of sustainability in campus operations and endowment investments and it has the highest response rate of any college sustainability ranking or rating.  The Report card was released Sept. 24.

UBC is the only Canadian school--and one of 15 in North America--to earn an A-, the highest grade designated this year.

In terms of UBC, the Green Report Card noted that UBC provides information on endowment holdings, which is updated monthly on the university's website.  Proxy voting records are publicly available at the university's investment office.  The Report Card also stated that UBC "seeks and expects a reasonable alignment of values between its mission and goals and its investment managers," adding that some of its investment managers are actively exploring renewable energy funds.  It also states that UBC has created an advisory committee on socially responsible investing with faculty, staff, students and alumni members.  The advisory committee advises the Board of Governors on transparency, proxy votes and SRI practices.

Other Canadian universities included in the Report Card are: Carleton, Dalhousie, McGill, McMaster, Queen's, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Guelph, University, University of Manitoba, University of New Brunswick, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario and York University.

To read the complete report visit www.greenreportcard.org

For the Canadian results, click here

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