1,000 signatures reached
To: Professor Ed Byrne - Principal and President of King's College London
Support our campaign to achieve divestment from the fossil fuel industry at King’s College London
1. KCL must move its money away from fossil fuel companies
- KCL must screen for and exclude the fossil fuel industry from their investment portfolio, including externally managed funds
- Immediately freeze any new investment in fossil fuel companies, including those made by external funds
- Divest from the fossil fuel industry and shift funds to lower risk, ethical investments within 5 years
2. KCL must be transparent about its relationships with the fossil fuel industry
- Publish full details of their financial and other ties to the fossil fuel industry in an easily accessible manner
- Not accept sponsorship and advertising from fossil fuel companies
- Declare their divestment from the fossil fuel industry in order to encourage other universities, institutions and individuals to do the same
Why is this important?
A global wide political agreement was made to limit global temperature rises to 2°C [1].
To ensure warming does not exceed this 2°C target, it has been calculated that a maximum of 565 gigatons CO2 can be emitted into the atmosphere [2].
The fossil fuel industry currently holds carbon reserves that are 5 times larger than what it is safe to emit into the atmosphere. In addition, this industry is actively trying to discover new reserves in environmentally sensitive regions [2].
It is imperative that 80% of these reserves remain untapped in order to mitigate climate change.
The fossil fuel industry is currently committed to exploiting the full capacity of these reserves and in doing so will contribute further irrevocable damage to the environment.
King's College London has a stated aim of providing “economic, social and cultural value to society” [3].
As of August 2013, King's College London has investments of at least 8 million pounds in fossil fuel companies, including Shell, Exxon Mobil, Rio Tinto, Centrica, PetroChina, and China Petroleum [4].
With this knowledge it is unethical to profit from the actions of the fossil fuel industry via the College’s endowment-linked investments. Moreover, this financial position is likely to go against the beliefs and values of the vast majority of its students and staff.
References
[1] COP 15 https://unfccc.int/meetings/copenhagen_dec_2009/meeting/6295.php
[2] http://www.carbontracker.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/08/Unburnable-Carbon-Full1.pdf
[3] Page 5 from: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/strategy/2006-16StrategicPlan.pdf
[4] https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/endowment_fund#incoming-416743