The University is failing in this commitment to not knowingly invest in companies whose practices pose a risk of harm to individuals or groups. The combustion of fossil fuels is responsible for 87% of all human carbon dioxide emissions which drastically contributes to anthropogenic climate change which in turn kills approximately 600,000 people yearly. As of last calculations, the University of York has £217000 invested in Fossil Fuels, and with 68 Universities already having pledged their commitment to divest from Fossil Fuels -including our rivals York St. John, it's about time the University of York did the same. The University of Edinburgh has divested over £6.3 million from fossil fuels, surely York can divest £217000.

Fossil Fuels have a devastating negative effect on the environment, as the production and the consumption contributes significantly to global climate change. They are responsible for the increasing amount of harmful chemicals such as carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. We should be investing in renewable energy sources rather than directly supporting and funding corporations such as British Petroleum (BP), who are accountable for environmental disasters such The Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. As an institute of Higher education how can we publicly support such corporations that attempt to green wash the facts?

Miksi tämä on tärkeää: Yliopistoilla on moraalinen vastuu yhteiskunnan korkeimman tiedon lähteinä hyödyntää omassa toiminnassaan parasta olemassa olevaa tietoa. Tiedeyhteisön yhteisymmärrys on kiistaton. Emme voi polttaa edes puolta maailmanlaajuisista fossiilisten polttoaineiden tunnetuista varannoista aiheuttamatta tuhoisaa ilmaston lämpenemistä. [2][3][4][5] Ilmastotieteilijät ovat yhtä mieltä siitä, että fossiilisten polttoaineiden käyttö on suurin yksittäinen syy antropogeeniseen eli ihmisen toiminnan aiheuttamaan ilmastonmuutokseen, joka aiheuttaa äärimmäisen vakavia ekologisia ja sosiaalisia katastrofeja. [2] Turun yliopiston tulisi johtaa omalla esimerkillään ilmastonmuutoksen hillitsemistä harjoittamalla entistä kestävämpää sijoitustoimintaa niin ympäristön kuin taloudenkin kannalta. Hiilikuplalla tarkoitetaan fossiilisia polttoaineita tuottaviin yhtiöihin liittyvää taloudellista riskiä, joka johtuu alihintaisten kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen aiheuttamasta markkinahäiriöstä. Hiilikupla on saanut useita sijoittajia vetämään sijoituksensa pois näistä yhtiöistä. [6][7] Yliopiston siirtyminen fossiilisten polttoaineiden tuottajista vapaaseen sijoitusstrategiaan olisi vahva signaali yliopiston henkilökunnalle ja opiskelijoille siitä, että yliopiston johto tunnustaa tieteellisen tutkimustyön tulokset ja pyrkii kehittämään yliopiston toimintaa entistä kestävämmäksi. Yhteiskunta tarvitsee edelläkävijöitä, jotka luovat uuden normaalin ja motivoivat muita osallistumaan uusien parhaiden käytäntöjen omaksumiseen. ------------------------------------------------------ Why is this important? Universities have the moral responsibility to act according to the leading sources of scientific research and education in a society. The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming; we cannot safely burn even half of the world's fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years. [2][3][4] Scientists agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify tragic climate disasters. [2] University of Turku should take the lead in confronting climate change by promoting sustainable and financially sound asset management practises. Carbon bubble is a term used to describe the financial risk related to companies holding fossil fuel reserves as governments move to fix the market failure caused by uncontrolled carbon emissions. [5][6][7] Divestment would send a strong signal to the University's staff as well as current and future students, that the University will take action for a sustainable future. Society as a whole needs leadership from organisations that shape the future and motivate others to join and implement best practises. [1] http://gofossilfree.org/companies/ [2] http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WGIAR5_SPM_brochure_en.pdf [3] http://carbontracker.live.kiln.it/index.html?CMP=twt_gu [4] http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus [5] http://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/ [6] http://gofossilfree.org/endorsements/ [7] http://www.carbontracker.org/report/carbon-bubble/ [8]http://www.tyy.fi/sites/tyy.fi/files/attachment/liite1_talousstrategia_edustajistolle.pdf

Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently; in this last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Hurricane Matthew alone is estimated to create $25 to $70 billion in damages. Experts agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify these tragic climate disasters. The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming; we cannot safely burn even half of global fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years. Let's keep it in the ground or at least stop investing in companies that extract it!

Climate change is widely agreed by the scientists and policymakers who understand it best to be the most significant threat facing humanity, both now and in the long term. Climate change poses many severe, wide-ranging and complicated ecological and human issues, and is a problem that is not going to disappear anytime soon. Indeed, it will only continue to worsen if the status quo is maintained and we continue down the same destructive path that we have been on since the dawn of the industrial era. However, there is hope. By significantly altering the way in which our society operates, we can reduce the negative impacts of climate change and protect our species and our planet from destruction. One such way to do this here on campus is through divestment, or the selling of university investments tied up in the fossil fuel industry. This includes companies whose primary business involves the extraction, refinement, distribution, or any other type of direct business engagement with fossil fuels, a category which is made up of the natural resources of oil, coal, and natural gas. These investments in the fossil fuel industry are oftentimes in enormous international corporations whose activities frequently wreak havoc on the environment and various peoples around the globe. By divesting, we would send a powerful message that we do not agree with the blind continuation of a fossil-fuel based society, and that we will not stand idly by while business as usual continues to ravage the planet. At the same time, we would be freeing up university resources to instead invest in more sustainable and forward-thinking companies. Through partaking in this divestment process, we would be living up to our nickname of "Eco-U" and helping to ensure a cleaner, safer, and overall brighter future for everyone.

[English Below] De beweging richting een duurzame toekomst vereist de sociale en economische steun van leidinggevende publieke instellingen en de actieve participatie van de samenleving in haar geheel. Als een publieke actor is het de morele taak van de Universiteit Gent een ethisch rolmodel te zijn op het vlak van positieve actie en het streven naar een duurzame toekomst. Toch investeert onze universiteit een ongekende som in fossiele brandstoffen en wapentechnologie, waardoor de UGent op dit moment faalt haar sociale verantwoordelijkheid op te nemen. De blijvende financiële steun voor de ontginning van fossiele brandstoffen bemoeilijkt de ontwikkeling van hernieuwbare energiebronnen en toont de onwil de klimaatverandering te counteren. De tijd is gekomen om verder te gaan dan communicatie. Het moment is aangebroken om ons financieel, praktisch en symbolisch gewicht in de strijd te werpen. Het is nu dat we moeten desinvesteren om te bouwen aan een duurzame toekomst. AANGEZIEN: De verandering van het klimaat een negatieve invloed heeft op de samenleving en de mogelijkheid voor een welvarende toekomst op het spel zet, AANGEZIEN: De Universiteit Gent de verantwoordelijkheid draagt standvastig leiderschap te tonen om de transitie naar echt duurzaam beleid te bewerkstelligen, AANGEZIEN: Investeren in de onethische sector van de fossiele brandstoffen steeds risicovoller wordt, DAAROM: Vragen wij, de ondergetekenden, aan de Universiteit Gent, 1. Alle toekomstige investeringen in fossiele brandstoffen, wapens en andere onethische initiatieven onmiddellijk stop te zetten. 2. Alle bestaande investeringen (onder andere haar portefeuille ter waarde van 230 miljoen euro) effectief weg te trekken uit dergelijke onethische initiatieven. 3. Op facultair niveau geen onderzoek meer te financieren gelinkt aan wapenproductie en fossiele energieën. 4. Volledige transparantie te verzekeren inzake toekomstige investeringen. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moving towards a sustainable future requires the social and economic support of leading public entities and the active participation by the community as a whole. As a public actor, the University of Gent is supposed to serve as an ethical role model for positive action. Yet our University invests an unknown amount of fossil fuel extraction and weapon technology; our University fails to fulfill its social responsibility. Their financial support for the extraction of fossil fuels perpetuates resistance towards development for renewable sources of energy production and the irreversible damages of climate change. Now is the time to go beyond communication, to throw our financial, practical, and symbolic weight into the struggle for a sustainable future. WHEREAS: The impacts of climate change negatively affect all communities and limit their ability to have a prosperous future, WHEREAS: The University of Gent has a responsibility to act with unwavering ethics and leadership for change, WHEREAS: Fossil fuel investment continues to become an ever riskier and unethical investment sector, THEREFORE: We, the undersigned, demand that the University of Gent, 1. Withdraws all existing investments (including her portfolio of 230 million euros) from fossil fuel and weapon initiatives. 2. Stops all funding of research linked to weapon production and fossil fuels on faculty level. 3. Ends immediately all future investments in fossil fuel extraction, industries which depend on fossil fuels, and weapon technology. 4. Guarantees full transparency concerning future investments.

{ENGLISH BELOW} Onze klimaattoekomst hangt af van een eenvoudige keuze. Ontginnen we alle gekende steenkool-, olie- en gasvoorraden ter wereld, dan blazen we genoeg CO2 de lucht in om onze planeet meerdere keren te laten overkoken. Laten we de meerderheid van die fossiele brandstoffen in de grond, dan maken we een goede kans om een leefbaar klimaat te behouden. Nu nog nieuwe steenkoolmijnen, olie- of gasvelden aansnijden is dus absolute waanzin wetende dat zelfs nu al mensen wereldwijd de gevolgen van klimaatverandering ondervinden. Sterker nog, als we de gevaarlijke grens van 1.5° opwarming niet willen overschrijden, zoals afgesproken in het wereldwijde Klimaatakkoord van Parijs, dan moeten zelfs fossiele mijnen en velden die nu actief zijn, vroegtijdig sluiten. Steeds meer universiteiten, stadsbesturen en pensioenfondsen van over de hele wereld investeren daarom niet langer in fossiele brandstofbedrijven. Daarmee nemen ze zowel een ethisch als economisch standpunt in en tonen ze zich voortrekker in de strijd voor een eerlijkere, gezondere en duurzamere samenleving. Onze KU Leuven kan haar rol als wetenschappelijke en maatschappelijke voortrekker daarbij niet ontkennen. Wij vragen nu dus dat onze universiteit zich ook aansluit bij die internationale Fossil Fuel Divestment beweging en haar bestaande fossiele beleggingen stopt. Fossiele brandstoffen horen in de grond! ENGLISH Our common climate future depends on a simple choice. If we dig up all known global coal, oil and gas reserves, we’ll blow enough CO2 into the atmosphere to boil the planet multiple times. If we choose to keep the majority of fossil fuels in the ground, we have a good shot at preserving a gentle climate. Opening up new coal mines, oil or gas fields at this stage is completely insane, knowing that people all over the world are already suffering from the consequences of climate change. Even more, if we want to keep the limit of a world only 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than in pre-industrial times in sight, as we globally agreed upon in the Paris Agreement, then fossil fuel mines and fields that are actively in use nowadays will have to close down earlier than planned. More and more universities, city councils and pension funds worldwide have stopped investing in fossil fuel companies. They are taking an ethical and economical stance and prove to be leaders in fighting for a more equal, healthy and sustainable society. Our KU Leuven cannot deny its role in this debate as a scientific and civil pioneer. We ask our university to join the international Fossil Fuel Divestment movement and to put an end to its existing fossil investments. Together we keep fossil fuels in the ground!

Anthropogenic climate change poses a threat to humans and natural systems on a global scale. Temperatures are rising rapidly: nine out of ten of the warmest years ever recorded in human history occurred after 2000 [1], and global temperatures continue to break records in 2016 [2]. Sea levels are steadily rising, extreme weather events are expected to occur more frequently, and oceans are acidifying at a frightening rate. Species are threatened with mass extinction and humans are displaced from their homes [3]. It is clear that efforts must be undertaken to stop climate change sooner rather than later. At the end of 2015, world leaders got together for COP21 in Paris and agreed to “[hold] the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels” [4]. If we are to take this ambition seriously, then we need to put a strict limit on the amount of fossil fuels that can still be used. In fact, we effectively have a ‘carbon budget’. This carbon budget clearly shows that a large part of the currently operational coal mines and gas and oil fields cannot be exploited at all, if we do not want to exceed 1.5 or 2 °C global warming [5]. Wageningen University & Research is renowned for its high quality education and research programmes [6], as well as for its sustainable practices [7]. With regards to sustainability and corporate social responsibility, Wageningen University & Research states that its goal is “to take a leading role in the area of sustainable operational management” and the institute shows that it is working on increasing sustainability in many ways [8]. However, one aspect of sustainability that has not been considered sufficiently, in our opinion, is finance. As the world has sensibly placed a carbon budget on its emissions, it has become evident that current and future investments in the fossil fuel industry can be regarded as irresponsible and unwise. Wageningen University & Research indirectly contributes to these investments through their use of two unsustainable banks: ABN AMRO and Rabobank. These banks score particularly poorly on the aspect of climate change, as highlighted by EerlijkeBankwijzer [9]. They are responsible for substantial financial support to fossil fuel industries through loans and shareholding practices [10]. Investing in fossil fuel extraction, as ABN AMRO and Rabobank do, is absolutely incompatible with the internationally agreed upon limit of 2 °C global warming. Fortunately, there is a suitable alternative. Triodos Bank is the only bank in the Netherlands that does not invest in the fossil fuel industry [11] and is capable of taking on large institutions as their clients. Furthermore, we believe Triodos Bank’s mission and key values [12] are highly consistent with those of Wageningen University & Research. Through a personal meeting with a representative of Triodos Bank, Fossil Free Wageningen has become convinced that it is possible to make the transition to this sustainable bank. Wageningen University & Research now has the opportunity to be a frontrunner on truly all aspects of sustainability and to become the leading institution on sustainability that it aims to be. To embody our underlying values for sustainable development, we need all hands and heads. Together, we can make this transition towards a carbon neutral society. Therefore, we, Fossil Free Wageningen, and the following students, alumni, staff members, teachers, and professors, ask Wageningen University & Research to bring this university a step closer to being a fossil free university by committing to switching to a truly sustainable bank. References: [1] http://climate.nasa.gov/ [2] http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20160719/ [3] http://ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/AR5_SYR_FINAL_SPM.pdf [4] http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf [5] http://priceofoil.org/2016/09/22/the-skys-limit-report/ [6] http://www.wur.nl/en/About-Wageningen/Scientific-prominence-Wageningen-University-Research.htm [7] http://www.studentenvoormorgen.nl/uitslag-2016/ [8] http://www.wur.nl/en/About-Wageningen/Sustainability.htm [9] http://eerlijkegeldwijzer.nl/bankwijzer/ [10] http://eerlijkegeldwijzer.nl/media/60922/2015-11-praktijkonderzoek-undermining-our-future.pdf [11] https://www.triodos.com/en/investment-management/impact-investment/our-sectors/energy-and-climate/ [12] https://www.triodos.com/en/about-triodos-bank/who-we-are/mission-principles/what-we-stand-for/

We are taught at Concordia to become responsibly engaged in the world (BREW), but while we are being taught these principles, the college is ignoring the very values they are trying to teach us. Concordia is going against their own values of sustainability and responsible engagement in the world. Concordia invests more then 121 million dollars of their endowment into a portfolio that invests in oil companies and fossil fuel companies, these companies values do not in any way shape or form align with concordia's values. Instead we urge the college to divest from these companies and reinvest into portfolios and companies who's views and values better align with the values that the college tries to instill in its students and project onto the public.

(english below) Toutes celles et ceux qui, comme nous, ont moins de trente ans, n’ont pas vécu un seul mois dont les températures mondiales étaient en-dessous des moyennes saisonnières. Nous vivons un état d’urgence climatique. L’Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris a une responsabilité morale importante dans la lutte contre le dérèglement climatique. Pourtant, les liens tissés par notre université et les entreprises fossiles (partenariats, mécénat, dons, investissements des fondations, etc.) contribuent à légitimer le coeur de leur activité climaticide. Notre université ne peut pas d’un côté prétendre former les leaders de demain pour la construction d'une société plus juste et durable, et de l’autre soutenir une industrie qui s’emploie à rendre la planète inhabitable. Le constat est clair : nous devons laisser 80 % des réserves de combustibles fossiles sous terre pour « poursuivre les efforts pour limiter la hausse des températures à 1,5 °C » comme la communauté internationale s’y est engagée lors des Accords de Paris. 200 entreprises détiennent près de cinq fois plus de carbone dans leurs réserves que ce que le monde peut se permettre de brûler tout en restant dans une zone de sûreté climatique. Pourtant, les grandes entreprises du secteur ne perçoivent pas ces gisements comme la véritable bombe climatique qu’ils sont. Elles y voient plus volontiers une opportunité de croissance et de profits. Tout en obstruant le processus politique, elles sont déterminées à extraire toujours plus de combustibles fossiles et injectent des milliards dans la recherche de nouveaux gisements, plutôt que dans le soutien à une transition nécessaire vers les énergies renouvelables. C’est pourquoi nous appelons Sciences Po à rompre tous les liens l’unissant à une industrie qui contribue à compromettre notre futur. En clair : désinvestissons et sortons le carbone de l’éducation. La destruction du climat ne se fera ni en notre nom, ni avec notre argent ; l’argent doit être investi dans les solutions, et non dans le problème. Nous demandons à notre université la transparence sur leur lien financier qu’elle entretient avec l’industrie fossile, et de mettre fin à tout soutien financier avéré en l’excluant des portefeuilles d’investissements auxquels Sciences Po est lié. Nous lui demandons également de mettre un terme à ses partenariats avec les entreprises fossiles : nous n’acceptons pas que notre université brade son image et sa respectabilité à l’industrie fossile qui s’en sert en retour pour légitimer son activité et s’offre à bas coût un blason d’acceptabilité sociale. *https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QgU9VN23JaNh2B0pb9eoHM5EMozsznaojpIulQuljDg/edit#gid=663041172 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To all people who, like us, are younger than 30 years old, and have always lived in a world with temperatures above seasonal averages: we are living in a perpetual state of climate emergency. The Political Science Institute (IEP) has a moral responsibility in the fight against climate change. Our school cannot purport to train tomorrow’s leaders for a more just and sustainable world while continuing to support the fossil fuel industry, which is making our planet uninhabitable. The conclusion is clear: we must leave 80% of fossil fuel reserves in the ground in order to keep global warming “well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels” and “continue efforts to limit the rise in temperature to 1.5°C,” as the international community agreed with the Paris Accords. To guarantee a sustainable future, we must put an end to the fossil fuel era now! Two hundred companies* own a large majority of proven coal, oil, and gas reserves. These reserves hold almost five times more carbon than what the world can afford to burn if we are to stay within a climatically stable range of warming. Yet this sector’s big companies do not perceive these deposits as the ticking climate bomb that they are. Instead, they see an opportunity for growth and profit. They are determined to extract more and more fossil fuels, and inject billions of dollars in the search for new deposits, rather than supporting the necessary transition towards renewable energy. This is why we are asking Sciences Po to cut all ties with an industry which is contributing to putting our future in peril. In sum: divest, and free education from fossil fuels. The climate’s destruction will not happen in our name, or with our money. This money should be invested in solutions, rather than the problem itself. Our university must withdraw its financial and moral support from fossil fuel companies, exclude them from its investment portfolio, and terminate all partnerships with the industry. We can no longer accept that our university lends its image and respectability to the fossil fuel industry, which in turn uses Sciences Po's clout to legitimize its own activities, and thereby secures social acceptability at low cost. *https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QgU9VN23JaNh2B0pb9eoHM5EMozsznaojpIulQuljDg/edit#gid=663041172

The number one threat to human existence and the quality of life is climate change. We are undergoing the most rapid change in biodiversity since the extinction of the dinosaurs (65 MYA). Roughly 150 species are lost everyday because of human activities. This is a mass extinction event happening silently around the world. Do we not value what the Earth has given us? It has given us life, the materials for creativity and innovation, and through evolution a complex brain that is the only product of the known universe that can consciously recognize and study...the universe. The human species relies on the world's ecosystems for our air, food, and water, yet we are casually decimating every ecological system on Earth by continuing to extract and burn fossil fuels. If fossil fuel corporations are able to continue to have their way, we are going to lose our civilization. Antartica's glacial melt is growing exponentially. The average world temperature has already risen 1 degree celsius and the damage is catastrophic. 2003 France/West European heat wave (kills 70,000 people, that was only with a 0.8 C change), 2015 Superstorm Sandy, the largest coral bleaching in recorded history, the polar vortex in 2014 and 2015, the California drought, and worldwide coastal flooding are all side effects of this warming. The world temperature will rise another 1/2 degree celsius even with immediate action. Without action, the warming reaches 2 degrees celsius by 2036. Climate analysts say the door to keep the 2 degrees C change from occurring closes in 2017. A 2015 study by the University of Florida states that based on current CO2 levels in the atmosphere, we are in for a 5-9 meter rise in sea levels no matter what. The majority of the world's most populace cities are situated along the coastline, with a rise of sea level so great they will be submerged. And where do all of those who are displaced go? The hundreds of millions of people around the world? Civilization will collapse. We have already seen this in the Syrian civil war, the first civil war caused by climate change (5 years of no rain). And the 2 degrees are just an average. In the poles the temperature increase is greatly exaggerated, as well in Africa. The agricultural systems in Africa would cease to exist. In order to save the Greenland ice-sheet we would have to cut emissions by 80% before 2020. This is not possible, especially when the fossil fuel industry is continuing to expand and has the profit motive to do so. Educational institutions around the country have already begun to divest from the fossil fuels industry, making inroads to erode the profit of carbon based fuels. The effectiveness of the divest movement was demonstrated against apartheid in the 80s and was one of the main reasons apartheid in South Africa was unraveled. When fossil fuels companies are finally held accountable for the external social costs of burning fossil fuels, a clear pathway to clean renewable energy can be made. A path that creates jobs and grows a clean economy. Let us follow in the footsteps of Germany and other modern countries and make the switch. This is the most difficult problem in the history of human existence and it is our generation that must solve it before it is too late. Let the University of Florida lead the way by setting this benchmark for other institutions across the country to follow. Let our slogan hold more meaning. It's great to be a Florida Gator.

Fossil fuel divestment takes the fossil fuel industry to task for its culpability in the climate crisis. By naming this industry’s singularly destructive influence and by highlighting the moral dimensions of climate change we hope that the fossil fuel divestment movement can help break the hold that the fossil fuel industry has on our economy and our governments. Fossil fuels continue to be a bad financial choice as well. We recognize that Cal Poly cannot create a future for their students while also supporting this destructive industry.