View source for Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing

The Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing was established as a permanent addition to the University in March 2000. The Committee's purpose is to advise the University Trustees on ethical and social issues that arise in the management of the investments in the University's endowment. It is made up of 12 voting members drawn from students, faculty, and alumni of the University, and two non-voting university officials.<ref>[https://www.finance.columbia.edu/content/about-advisory-committee-social-responsible-investing ACSRI About Us]</ref> 

Its decisions affect the [[Columbia Investment Management Company]] (IMC), which manages Columbia's endowment, valued at almost $11 billion in 2020.<ref>[https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2020/04/16/as-the-pandemic-rages-on-columbia-braces-for-widespread-financial-fallout/]</ref> The investments divided between "hedge funds, global equities, real assets, absolute return strategy funds, fixed income, and cash."<ref>[https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2020/04/16/as-the-pandemic-rages-on-columbia-braces-for-widespread-financial-fallout/]</ref> Divestment policies generally only affect the direct holdings and not "indirect" investments -- Columbia may tell hedge funds about their values, but the hedge funds could still be invested in companies that the ACSRI policy divested from. Between 2009 and 2019, the share of investments in hedge funds increased from 30% to 35%.<ref>[https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2020/04/16/as-the-pandemic-rages-on-columbia-braces-for-widespread-financial-fallout/]</ref> 

ACSRI reviews proposals (proxies) for corporations that the University has direct holdings in, and "recommend[s] to the University Trustees how to vote on shareholder proposals on several broad social issue categories, including animal welfare; banking; charitable donations; environment, energy and sustainability; equal employment; health and safety; human rights; military and security; and political contributions."<ref>[https://www.finance.columbia.edu/files/gateway/content/ACSRI/Final%202019-2020%20ACSRI%20Annual%20Agenda.pdf 2019-2020 Annual Agenda]</ref> The meeting minutes posted on their website generally record whether the committee supports or rejects proxies. 

ACSRI also considers proposals for divestment from members of the Columbia community (as well as "options for shareholder engagement", e.g. becoming an Investor Signatory to the CDP Climate Change program). Currently, the University has determined to divest from private prison operators, thermal coal, tobacco, and certain oil and gas companies.

From 2006 to 2021, Columbia had divested from Sudan (the Khartoum government) due to extensive human rights violations, including genocide. The divestment was lifted in recognition that Sudan seems to be on a path of transition to a more stable, democratic rule, and economic activity could help that progress.<ref>[https://www.columbiaspectator.com/main/2021/02/05/columbia-ends-14-year-divestment-in-sudan-cites-investment-as-a-force-for-stabilization/]</ref>

==Climate==

For many years, ACSRI rejected [https://www.finance.columbia.edu/files/gateway/content/ACSRI%20Response%20to%20CDCJ%20Petition%20-%20Final%2011.19.15.pdf proposals for a broader divestment from fossil fuels] from [[Columbia Divest for Climate Justice]] as well as a 2018 proposal to divest from the University's indirect holdings in thermal coal, with the rationale that it would be hypocritical to divest while still using fossil fuels on campus, "the  substitution  of  natural  gas  for  coal  is  one immediate  way  of  reducing  the  carbon  footprint  of  energy  production", and active engagement with companies they invest in would have a larger behavior change. 

However, the committee said it would look favorably upon a proposal to divest from "publicly  traded  firms  that  engage  in climate change denialism whether by “word” or by “deed”" (for example, investing in "high   carbon-content resource exploration and development") as a pro-democratic, "stand up for science" approach.<ref>[https://www.finance.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Finance%20Documents/ACSRI/ACSRI%20Response%20to%20CDCJ%20Petition%20-%20Final%2011.19.15%20(1).pdf]</ref> It also acknowledged that the university economics advisors could independently find that fossil fuel investments are too risky and decide to "avoid  companies  that  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  social  and  financial  costs  of climate  change  and  that  fail  to  take  economically  sensible  steps  to  reduce  greenhouse  gas emissions."<ref>[https://www.finance.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Finance%20Documents/ACSRI/ACSRI%20Response%20to%20CDCJ%20Petition%20-%20Final%2011.19.15%20(1).pdf]</ref> In 2016, the committee created its own proposal for targeted divesting from tar sands based on its "stand up for science" methodology; it seems this did not move forward because the committee decided that creating divestment proposals was out of its scope--rather, it should only consider external proposals. 

In January of 2021, Columbia University announced that they no longer hold any direct investments in publicly-traded oil and gas companies, planning to continue this “non-investment for the foreseeable future.”<ref>[https://news.columbia.edu/news/university-announcement-fossil-fuel-investments]</ref> Simultaneously, Columbia IMC pledged to not make new investments in private funds whose primary investments are in  oil and gas companies. However, the University outlines their freedom to make exceptions to this non-investment if a certain oil or gas company has a “credible plan” to “transform their businesses to net zero emissions by 2050,” in order to meet the IMC’s goals for risk and returns.<ref>[https://news.columbia.edu/news/university-announcement-fossil-fuel-investments University Announcement on Fossil Fuel Investments, January 22, 2021]</ref> Otherwise, little information has been given to outline specific guidelines or measures taken by Columbia IMC in their non-investment. These measures are to be re-evaluated periodically with the potential for expansion to other sectors that are contributory to climate change. This announcement was in response to Columbia [[Extinction Rebellion]]'s proposal, after a year of striking by Extinction Rebellion and the [[Columbia Sunrise Movement Hub]] and the announcement of the [[Climate School]].

==External Links==
[https://www.finance.columbia.edu/content/socially-responsible-investing ACSRI website]

[https://www.intentionalendowments.org/columbia_university Intentional Endowments - Columbia]

[https://cuclimatejustice.wordpress.com/2017/02/28/2017227q7u8dnoeqlqg0yc1bej4yq03ny7q3l/ Columbia Divest for Climate Justice statement]
== References ==
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[[Category: Committees]]