Campus Win! Trinity College Fully Divests from Fossil Fuels—Five Years Ahead of Schedule
In a major victory for climate justice, Trinity College at the University of Toronto has fully divested its endowment from fossil fuels, five years earlier than promised. In 2023, Trinity’s Board of Trustees committed to fully decarbonize its endowment by 2030. Now, just two years later, the college has reached that goal.
In a June 2025 update, Provost and Vice-Chancellor Nicholas Terpstra stated:
“I am also very happy to report that as of February 28, 2025, we reached our target to divest the remaining portion of fossil fuel investments in Trinity’s endowment… We thank the members of the Investment Committee and its Divestment Working Group for accomplishing this important goal five years ahead of schedule.”
Adding to this win, Trinity’s College Meeting also voted to investigate closing accounts with RBC and moving funds to a more sustainable, ethical institution. But this isn’t just a financial milestone. It’s a powerful story of student persistence, frontline organizing, and the growing strength of movements demanding justice on campus and beyond.
While this announcement celebrates progress, let’s not forget: this win came from the ground up.
The Power of Student Action
This victory was sparked by years of student organizing. In April 2023, Victoria College became the first federated college at U of T to commit to fossil fuel divestment, following an 18-day student occupation organized by Climate Justice UofT. St. Michael’s College followed suit in June. In response to Trinity’s announcement to fully divest by 2030, Climate Justice UofT called the timeline too slow:
“Divestment by 2030 is far too late. The IPCC has found that global emissions must peak by 2025 in order to limit warming to 1.5°C and prevent the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. Trinity can prove it is the climate leader it claims to be by committing to divestment by 2025. This fight is not over; we’re just getting started.” ( @climatejusticeuoft, 2023 instagram caption)
Trinity’s decision to accelerate its timeline is proof that student pressure works and that grassroots action can move institutions faster than they’re willing to move themselves.
A Global Wave of Campus Resistance
Trinity’s divestment echoes a broader, global surge in student resistance. In the same month, June 2025, across the Atlantic Ocean, following a powerful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and encampment, Trinity College Dublin voted to fully divest from Israeli institutions.
“All recommendations set out by the Israeli Divestment Taskforce were approved for a full economic and academic boycott of all Israeli institutions and companies headquartered in Israel.” — Williams, Sheehan, Clancy 2025 “This is a massive step forward in ending TCD complicity in the ongoing occupation, apartheid, and genocide.” — TCD BDS Chair Harry Johnston, 2025, Trinity News
Student movements around the world are demanding their universities stop funding destruction.
Student Activism Is Rising but Being Repressed
According to a recent Pure Spectrum survey, over 1 in 3 students were involved in campus protests last fall. Whether organizing for climate justice, Palestine solidarity, anti-racism, or academic freedom, students are rising up. But this surge is being met with increasing repression. At U of T and around the world, administrators are responding to pro-Palestine protests by tightening protest rules, increasing surveillance, and criminalizing dissent in the name of “safety.” We must ask, whose safety is being protected?
Education Must Serve the Future, Not Fossil Fuels or Genocide.
At Change Course, we know that students and workers have power. We can reimagine and transform our campuses, pushing back against the banks and colonial institutions fueling climate catastrophe, and building spaces rooted in justice and Indigenous sovereignty.
Canada’s major banks are financing climate destruction, war crimes, and violations of Indigenous rights. RBC is leading the pack as the biggest funder of fossil fuels in the country. From coast to coast, students are organizing to kick RBC and other #BanksOffCampus for their continued investments in MAGA-backed LNG projects, fossil fuels, weapons, and colonial projects. These entities have no place on our campuses.
University spaces must be reclaimed, not for financiers and war profiteers, but for collective learning, freedom of expression, and resistance.
Trinity’s divestment is more than a win; it’s a signal of what’s possible when we organize.
From ending fossil fuel investments to standing in solidarity with Palestine and reclaiming education from corporate control, students are changing the course. Let this victory fuel the next fight. We’re not just reacting against the flooding of bills and MAGA projects of LNG.
We’re building the future.
