(le français suit) Climate change is no longer a future state. It's here and accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing global impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently. Just in the last few years, extreme weather, record-breaking heat, droughts, hurricanes, and flooding have impacted hundreds of thousands of people with a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. The vast majority of scientists and climate experts agree that global warming is caused by human activity and that burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify these tragic climate disasters. Furthermore, the huge dependence on government subsidies and political rules makes the fossil fuel sector more risky and volatile as a financial investment. There is growing evidence that the sector is greatly over-valued. When a true cost is placed on carbon emissions, these shares will be worth substantially less. Analysis of historical data shows that over the past seven years, eliminating the fossil fuel sector from a global benchmark index would have actually resulted in a slightly higher return. It is unconscionable to pay for our education with monies that will then be invested to support the fossil fuel industry and condemn the planet to climate disaster. We ask you to join a growing movement of diverse groups and organizations around the world that are committed to a clean energy future by moving the University of Ottawa’s endowment away from fossil fuels and into sustainable investments. This petition is sponsored by 350 Ottawa and Fossil Free uOttawa The list of top 200 fossil-fuel companies can be found at the following link: http://bit.ly/VOP9Um ------ Les changements climatiques ne font plus partie d'un future potentiel, mais relève bien du présent, et ça va en accélérant. Nous sommes témoins des impacts globaux qui vont en s'aggravant du réchauffement de la planète. Au cours des dernières années des événements climatiques extrêmes, des records de chaleur, des sécheresses, inondations et les ouragans ont un impact direct sur de centaines de milliers de personnes et engendrent des coûts de centaines de milliards de dollars. La majorité des scientifiques et des experts climatiques s'entent pour dire que les changements climatiques sont causés par l'activité humaine et que la combustion de combustibles fossiles va continuer à accélérer et intensifier ces tragiques désastres climatiques. De plus, la grande dépendance aux subventions gouvernementales et l'assouplissement des politiques du gouvernement font de l'industrie des combustibles fossiles un secteur à risque et un investissement financier volatile. De plus en plus d'évidence nous dit que ce secteur d'activité est sur-évalué. Lorsque les coûts réels seront placés sur les émissions de carbone, ces parts vaudront beaucoup moins. L'analyse de données historiques montre qu'au cours des sept dernières années, l'élimination du secteur des combustibles fossiles des standards et index internationaux aurait résulté dans des retours légèrement plus élevés. Il n'est pas moralement justifiable de payer pour notre éducation avec de l'argent qui sera ensuite investis pour soutenir l'industrie des combustibles fossiles et condamner la planète à un désastre climatique. Nous vous demandons de nous joindre à un mouvement en croissance de groupes diversifiés et d'organisations de partout à travers le monde qui se sont engagées envers un avenir d'énergie propre en déplaçant les investissements de l'Université d'Ottawa hors de combustibles fossiles et vers des investissements durables. Cette pétition est coordonnée par 350 Ottawa et uOttawa sans fossiles La liste des top 200 compagnies de combustibles fossiles peut être trouvé au lien suivant. http://bit.ly/VOP9Um

There is unequivocal evidence that emissions from fossil fuels are driving runaway climate change, with devastating global environmental and humanitarian consequences, while causing irreversible harm to the health, water, forests and farmland of local communities. As members of the university community, we believe UTS, as a public institution of learning and knowledge, has a responsibility to invest its funds ethically. By ending its investments in the coal, oil and gas industries, the university can affirm its position as a leader in social innovation and encourage the move towards a sustainable, low-carbon future. As governments and markets begin to react to the threat of climate change, planned divestment will strengthen the university’s portfolio. Moreover, studies of fossil fuel divestment suggest that a portfolio that eliminated fossil fuel companies from the ASX 200 index exhibited similar risk return characteristics as the index which included fossil fuels.

Unless we act rapidly to curb global emissions, we face climate catastrophe within this century. If we are to stay below the 2 degree guardrail for global warming, 80% of current fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground. Despite this, the fossil fuel industry is committed to burning all of the coal, oil and gas in their reserves, and they continue to search for more. If their business plans go unchecked, we face a devastating future. At the same time, the fossil fuel industry funds climate denial, donates millions of dollars to politicians to get them on side, launches PR attacks on environmental campaigns and blocks legislation that would see us make the transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. Unless we can rein in the inordinate power and influence of this industry we don't stand a chance of getting real action on climate change. By taking their money out of fossil fuels, the University of Melbourne can loosen the tight grip these companies have over our political system and make room for legislation that is in line with the climate science. As Australia's no. 1 University, the University of Melbourne is well-placed to call the fossil fuel industry out for their roll in blocking action on climate, and pave the way for a just transition to renewables.

UNF has publicly “committed to values that promote the welfare and positive transformation of individuals, communities, and societies.” These values include, “The pursuit of truth and knowledge carried out in the spirit of intellectual and artistic freedom; Ethical conduct; Community engagement; Diversity; Responsibility to the natural environment; and Mutual respect and civility." Divest UNF seeks an alignment between these values and university endowment funds. Divest UNF asserts, “If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. We believe that educational and other institutions that serve the public good should divest from fossil fuels.” Our economy and future is at risk from the reckless burning of fossil fuels. Responsible and ethical leadership demands divestment.

Why would an institution at the forefront of research on the impacts of climate change choose to fund the very industry doing most to cause it? Despite UEA's aspiration to be ‘an exemplary low carbon campus’, freedom of information requests reveal that it has over £130,000 invested in fossil fuels. The companies that UEA finances – Shell, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto – are engaged in some the most destructive projects in the world today, including coal mining in Indonesia and Mozambique, the Canadian tar sands and Arctic oil drilling. We're all part of institutions that ought to be looking out for the public good, from city and state governments to religious institutions to other kinds of charities and non-profits. Most of these institutions invest money in stocks and bonds, and have a responsibility to divest from an industry that’s destroying our future, and reinvest in solutions to climate change. Even as extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, floods, droughts and fires threaten to overwhelm local budgets, government action to solve this crisis is all but stalled. We have the solutions, but we won’t see any political progress on the issue until we can weaken the power of the fossil fuel industry. The bottom line is this: divestment is the only moral choice for institutions that care about the planet and its residents. Solving the climate crisis is the only practical choice for governments that care about their solvency.

The fossil fuel industry has five times the amount coal, oil and gas needed to push our climate past the two degrees of warming that the world's governments have agreed to as the precipice. Financially, continued investment in companies that extract fossil fuels represents a significant risk to UNSW as these companies will face large devaluations when the world moves to lower emission energy sources. The fossil fuel industry is also known to support campaigns designed to discredit climate science as well as delay action on a shift to renewable energy and address anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. As a public leader in these fields it is embarrassing that we continue to support these activities. UNSW already leads the way in encouraging and enabling a sustainable future for our society through research and education. A commitment to divest from fossil fuels is an effective way for UNSW to show further leadership. This move would lower the university’s financial risk while also generating positive publicity and increasing support for The University of New South Wales.

Monash University is one the leading universities in Australia. Numerous Monash researchers (many of them IPCC authors) contribute important research about climate change and its future impacts. The scientific consensus on climate change from these researchers is quite clear, climate change must urgently be addressed. What is needed now is decisive action. However, as atmospheric CO2 concentration levels crossed the 400 ppm threshold for the first time in human history (and in millions of years) and the world is already starting to feel the impacts of increasing extreme weather events, it is apparent that politicians, corporations, and the public in general are unable or unwilling to take meaningful steps to curb climate change, even using solutions that in many cases are already available. Instead, the problem is being deferred to future generations. Monash University has an opportunity to show leadership by divesting from investments in fossil fuels which are driving and accelerating world carbon emissions and obstructing meaningful action to curb climate change. Let's strengthen Monash University's already strong commitment to sustainability by going fossil-free.

If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. Too many UK universities support the fossil fuel industry directly through their research, their endowments and investments and their partnerships with some of the biggest fossil fuel companies in the world like BP and Shell. UK students have decided to take on the fossil fuel industry by getting our universities to go Fossil Free. People & Planet is joining forces with the 350.org campaign that has been sweeping across North American campuses. We believe that our educational institutions should serve the public good and live up to their promises to tackle climate change. No UK university in their right mind would accept funding from or invest their funds in tobacco companies these days - it’s inconsistent with their research on cancer. The same holds true for fossil fuel companies causing climate change and yet most universities still do not recognise this. That’s about to change! 200 publicly-traded companies hold the vast majority of the world’s proven coal, oil and gas reserves. Those are the companies we’ll be asking our institutions to break their links with. Together they hold five times more carbon in their fossil fuel reserves than we can safely afford to burn to stop runaway climate change. It’s that simple…if you do the maths. From Canada’s dirty tar sands to Arctic drilling and hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) for shale gas - the fossil fuel industry is scraping the bottom of the barrel and causing huge environmental and human devastation in the process. Withdrawing our institutions’ financial and moral backing for this climate-wrecking industry is crucial to tackling climate change.

We have reached a landmark moment in history. For the first time in over 5 million years the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million (ppm). 97 % of all climate scientists agree that climate change is human induced and argue that the highest safe concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is 350 ppm. If we want to secure a safe and livable future it is time to end the fossil fuel era and invest in renewable energy and sustainable lifestyles. By demanding that our local community divests from this destructive industry we are directly contributing to a better future within the framework of a larger, growing global movement. Another future is not only possible, it is urgent.

Universities prepare students for the future; logically the UvA and HvA should protect the future of its students by divesting from the fossil fuel industry now. Both institutions highly value sustainability. Association with fossil fuels contradicts the image of the universities and the role of the institution as an exemplary public figure. Continuing investments in fossil fuels will prove disastrous to the environment and our planet as a whole. Additionally financial risks inherent in such investments are structurally underestimated. It is for all those reasons that we want our University and University of Applied sciences to divest from fossil fuels. Sign the petition and plead for a cleaner and future-oriented university! Universiteiten bereiden hun studenten voor op de toekomst; een logisch gevolg is dat de UvA en de HvA de toekomst van haar studenten zou moeten beschermen door nu te desinvesteren in de fossiele brandstof industrie. Beide instituties hebben duurzaamheid hoog in het vaandel staan. Associaties met fossiele brandstoffen zijn in tegenspraak met het beleid van de instituties en de rol als zijnde een publiek voorbeeld. Voortzetting van investeringen in fossiele brandstoffen zal desastreus blijken voor zowel het milieu als onze aarde als geheel. Daarnaast worden de financiële risico’s die inherent zijn aan dergelijke beleggingen structureel onderschat. Het is om al deze redenen dat we willen dat onze universiteit en onze hogeschool desinvesteren in fossiele brandstof. Teken de petitie en pleit voor een schonere en toekomstgerichte Universiteit en Hogeschool!

Climate change, caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from burning oil, gas and coal, threatens the lives and livelihoods of billions of people around the world. Extreme weather events — the floods, droughts, melting icecaps and wildfires we've seen in recent years — make it clear that climate change is no longer a future threat: it’s a clear and present danger. Those worst affected, and often least responsible for causing climate change, are the poor and vulnerable in both developed and developing countries. We now know that at least two-thirds of fossil fuel companies' reserves will have to remain underground if the world is to meet existing internationally agreed targets to avoid the threshold for "dangerous" climate change. Experts warn this 'carbon bubble' could lead to stranded assets worth trillions and plunge the world into another financial crisis if left unaddressed. And yet, despite University of Oxford's public commitments to tackling climate change both through its estates and its world-leading climate research, there are strong and pervasive links between our institution and the fossil fuel industry. University of Oxford has the largest endowment of any UK university invested in numerous fossil fuel companies. If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. It's time for University of Oxford to realise how incompatible these investments are with a safe climate future, and to take meaningful action to go Fossil Free.

UPDATE: ANU's divestment decision makes it a climate leader? Think again. Last year ANU attracted a torrent of community support, after it stood up to the divestment bullies. But the reality is ANU only sold shares in 7 resources companies, only 2 of which were in the fossil fuel industry. It held onto shares in the biggest and dirtiest oil and coal companies. As the climate crisis escalates, so does the global divestment movement. ANU should be a climate leader. But it has to earn it - time to Divest the Rest! Previously, we wrote: ANU is a recognised leader on sustainability research and teaching. It has numerous commitments to sustainable development, both on campus and in broader activities. So why on this threatened earth does ANU keep investing in coal, oil and coal seam gas? It's unacceptable and, frankly, embarrassing. But ANU can turn this around. It's time to show some leadership on this vital issue and become the first Australian University to go fossil free.