Over three-quarters of UK universities exclude investments in fossil fuel companies
Over three-quarters of UK universities have pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, new research has revealed.
According to People & Planet, a student network running co-ordinated campaigns against oppression and injustice, Birmingham City University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Bradford have become the latest universities to incorporate fossil fuel industry exclusions into their Ethical Investment Policies.
The campaign group states: “115 (out of 149) UK universities have now publicly committed to divest from fossil fuels, representing 77% of the UK Higher Education sector and £17.7bn worth of endowments now out of reach for fossil fuel industry investment.”
It comes as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a red alert on the first day of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP29 which took place last month.
The WMO has said that 2015-2024 will be the warmest ten years on record with the loss of ice from glaciers, sea-level rises and ocean heating acceleration, while extreme weather, like Spain’s recent floods and hurricanes that battered the USA, is wreaking havoc on communities and economies across the world.
People and Planet says that the milestone to get universities to divest from fossil fuels has been achieved through relentless student campaigning for Fossil Free over the course of more than a decade, often with support from university staff.
Launched in 2013, the Fossil Free campaign demands the exclusion of fossil fuel extractor companies from university investments in solidarity with the Indigenous and frontline communities experiencing both the impacts of the global climate crisis and fossil fuel extraction projects.
Student campaigners intend to maintain pressure on the 34 UK universities yet to go Fossil Free, by highlighting their minority status in the university sector.
Laura Clayson, Campaign Manager: Climate Justice at People & Planet, said: “Over three-quarters of UK universities excluding fossil fuels from their investments would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. That we can celebrate this today is down to the generations of students and staff that have fought for justice in solidarity with impacted communities. The days of UK universities profiteering from investments in this neo-colonial industry are over. In solidarity with frontline communities, such as those resisting the building of EACOP, we look forward to announcing the sector’s stragglers as Fossil Free very soon.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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Left Foot Forward
'115 (out of 149) UK universities have now publicly committed to divest from fossil fuels, representing 77% of the UK Higher Education sector'
'115 (out of 149) UK universities have now publicly committed to divest from fossil fuels, representing 77% of the UK Higher Education sector'
Over three-quarters of UK universities have pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, new research has revealed.
According to People & Planet, a student network running co-ordinated campaigns against oppression and injustice, Birmingham City University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Bradford have become the latest universities to incorporate fossil fuel industry exclusions into their Ethical Investment Policies.
The campaign group states: “115 (out of 149) UK universities have now publicly committed to divest from fossil fuels, representing 77% of the UK Higher Education sector and £17.7bn worth of endowments now out of reach for fossil fuel industry investment.”
It comes as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a red alert on the first day of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP29 which took place last month.
The WMO has said that 2015-2024 will be the warmest ten years on record with the loss of ice from glaciers, sea-level rises and ocean heating acceleration, while extreme weather, like Spain’s recent floods and hurricanes that battered the USA, is wreaking havoc on communities and economies across the world.
People and Planet says that the milestone to get universities to divest from fossil fuels has been achieved through relentless student campaigning for Fossil Free over the course of more than a decade, often with support from university staff.
Launched in 2013, the Fossil Free campaign demands the exclusion of fossil fuel extractor companies from university investments in solidarity with the Indigenous and frontline communities experiencing both the impacts of the global climate crisis and fossil fuel extraction projects.
Student campaigners intend to maintain pressure on the 34 UK universities yet to go Fossil Free, by highlighting their minority status in the university sector.
Laura Clayson, Campaign Manager: Climate Justice at People & Planet, said: “Over three-quarters of UK universities excluding fossil fuels from their investments would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. That we can celebrate this today is down to the generations of students and staff that have fought for justice in solidarity with impacted communities. The days of UK universities profiteering from investments in this neo-colonial industry are over. In solidarity with frontline communities, such as those resisting the building of EACOP, we look forward to announcing the sector’s stragglers as Fossil Free very soon.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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