This is a message from the YUFA Climate Emergency Committee (YCEC) co-chairs, Sarah Rotz and Sheila Colla. YCEC was instrumental in having climate action identified as one of York's priorities in the 2020-25 University Academic Plan approved by Senate in June 2020.
This year, the Committee has formed working groups to focus its work on divestment, sustainability, a carbon-free campus, research, policy, and other initiatives.
Please share this letter and invitation with colleagues, including contract faculty, graduate students, and research assistants with an interest in climate change.
To be added to the YCEC mailing list, please click on this link or email [email protected] or [email protected].
The next YCEC meetings will take place as follows:
- Monday, November 23, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST
- Thursday, December 10, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST
- Monday, January 25, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST
YUFA Climate Emergency Committee call to action
Dear York faculty,
York University has one of the largest concentrations of research, teaching, and activism on climate change, environmental degradation, and sustainable development in Canada. YUFA recently decided to take a leading role in developing and promoting internal transformations within York University to address the climate crisis, taking the lead from several universities elsewhere (e.g., the University of California).
To pursue this goal, YUFA has established the YUFA Climate Emergency Committee (YCEC). Its intent is to support, educate, and mobilize faculty for a climate-crisis-ready university; to advocate for climate action and justice from the York University administration; to ensure that York University’s resource use and investments support the limits and goals outlined by the IPCC; to shape YUFA’s public position and network for climate action with other organizations; and to decarbonize YUFA’s internal operations.
YCEC is a new endeavor that is just emerging. We welcome and encourage the support and participation from all faculty!
Although YCEC is a recent initiative, it has already had an impact, being instrumental in having climate action identified as one of York's priorities in the 2020-25 University Academic Plan–approved by the Senate in June 2020.
So far, faculty members have noted that they are keen to support climate action through YCEC, but many of us do not have much capacity, so contributing through more directed and task-specific working groups may be more doable for many of us. This is something we have been discussing for a few months now in YCEC meetings, and we would like to bring it to all faculty to gauge your interest and capacity in joining a YCEC working group.
We have come up with several working groups, but we are not sure if there's enough interest or capacity to fill them all. This form is a means for us to get input from you to determine which working groups would be able to move ahead. We also welcome your comments, questions, or points of information, which you can provide under any of the proposed working groups.
To access the YCEC form, please click here.
Upcoming YCEC meetings
The next YCEC meetings will take place as follows:
- Monday, November 23, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST
- Thursday, December 10, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST
- Monday, January 25, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST
Please save these dates and sign up for the YCEC listserv. We hope to see you there!