UWS cites a vision of "Sustainability as a CORE business", continued investment in fossil fuels is in opposition to this vision. As UWS continues to establish itself as a leader in campus sustainability, it must be ready to engage in sustainable practices at all levels-especially with regards to its investment activities. The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly clear. In this last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and floods, which impacted thousands of people. 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. The health impacts of climate change will be extensive, ranging from greater amounts of heat-related illness and vector-borne disease, loss of food sources, as well as the extensive mental health issues from the changing environment. As a university with a medical school and a multitude of allied health faculties it is a responsible move to take the preventative steps to avoiding these health issues. We believe such action will not only be a sound decision for our institution's financial portfolio, but also for the wellbeing of its current and future graduating classes, who deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate chaos.

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 Sandy alone caused $50 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.

Fossil Free är en global kampanj för att flytta våra gemensamma tillgångar (skattepengar och andra resurser) från investeringar i olja, kol och gas. Det är inte många institutioner idag som placerar sina tillgångar i vapenindustrin - det är helt enkelt betraktat som omoraliskt. Människor håller med varandra om att vapen inte är okej att stödja. Det vi nu insett är att även olja, kol och gas kan ses som vapen: Vapen riktade mot oss, klimatet och vår framtid. Är det då verkligen moraliskt att ha sina pengar placerade i en industri som utsätter oss alla för fara, en industri som bevisligen spenderar miljarder årligen på att genom lobbyism och klimatskeptiska tankesmedjor förhala all politisk handling riktad mot en förnybar omställning? "If it's wrong to wreck the climate, then it's wrong to profit from that wreckage!" Det finns även starka finansiella incitament för att divestera ur fossilindustrin. Vi har råd med absolut max en 2-gradig global medeltemperaturhöjning. För att hålla oss under 2 grader har vi råd att släppa ut max 565 gigaton koldioxid i atmosfären fram till 2050, detta enligt rapporten “Unburnable Carbon” från Carbon Tracker Initiative. Enligt samma rapport sitter dock fossilindustrin redan på gas-, kol- och oljekällor som vid utvinning och förbränning skulle orsaka utsläpp av 2 795 gigaton koldioxid. Utifrån detta kan vi räkna ut att 80% av befintliga fossila bränslen måste lämnas under jord, ifall vi vill bibehålla ett någorlunda stabilt klimat på jorden! Det innebär också att de pengar vi har placerade i dessa bränslen kommer att försvinna i tomma intet så snart alla inser att vi måste lämna 80% under jord - detta är en finansiell bubbla som förmodligen kommer att spricka inom en snar framtid. Inte vill väl vi förlora 80% av värdet på stora delar av våra tillgångar? Se gärna "Do the Math", en film som beskriver problematiken med att fossilindustrin ges fria tyglar (med stöd av våra pengar): http://vimeo.com/66066932 ENGLISH Fossil Free is an international campaign to move our common assets (tax money and other resources) from investments in oil, coal and gas. There are not many institutions today that invest in the weapon industry - it is simply regarded as immoral. People agree with each other about weapons is not okay to support. What we have realized, is that oil, coal and gas can be seen as weapons as well, weapons directed against us, the climate and our future. Is it then really moral to have ones money invested in an industry that puts us all at risk, an industry that evidently spends billions annually to procrastinate any political act directed against a renewable conversion, through lobbying and climate skeptic think tanks? "If it 's wrong to wreck the climate , then it's wrong to profit from that wreckage ! " There are also strong financial incentives to divest from the fossil industry. A 2 degree global temperature rise is the absolute maximum we can afford. To stay below 2 degrees , we can afford to emit maximum 565 gigatons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2050 , according to the report "Unburnable Carbon" from Carbon Tracker Initiative. According to the same report , the fossil industry already holds gas, coal and oil sources that would cause the release of 2,795 gigatons of carbon dioxide when extracted and incinerated. From this we can understand that 80% of existing fossil fuels must be left in the ground, if we want to maintain a reasonably stable climate on earth! It also means that the money we have invested in these fuels will disappear into nothing as soon as everyone realizes that we have to leave 80% in the ground - this is a financial bubble that will probably crack in the near future. We surely don't want to lose 80% of the value of much of our assets? The film "Do the Math" above is a movie that describes the problems associated with our financial support to the fossil fuel industry.

"If it's wrong to wreck the climate, then it's wrong to profit from that wreckage"! Det är inte många institutioner idag som placerar sina tillgångar i vapenindustrin - det är helt enkelt betraktat som omoraliskt. Människor håller med varandra om att vapen inte är okej att stödja. Det klimatrörelsen insett är att olja, kol och gas också är vapen - vapen riktade mot atmosfären, klimatet och vår framtid. Därför är det inte okej att placera sina pengar hos, och därmed stödja, fossilindustrin. Fossil Free är en internationell kampanj för att flytta våra gemensamma tillgångar (skattepengar och andra resurser) från investeringar i olja, kol och gas. AP-fonderna består dessutom av pengar som ska ge oss en dräglig framtid. Det blir därmed motsägelsefullt att dessa pengar samtidigt bidrar till stora klimatförändringar och en ohållbar energiförsörjning. Det ligger i såväl ungas som äldres intresse att AP-fonderna blir fossilfria! Se gärna "Do the Math", en film som beskriver problematiken med att fossilindustrin ges fria tyglar (med stöd av våra pengar): http://vimeo.com/66066932

In recent years, Ball State has developed a reputation as an institution at the forefront of social and environmental responsibility. Despite significant progress at the university, the foundation’s endowment investments remain closed to the public. In 1999, as we entered the 21st century, Ball State made a commitment to sustainability; students, shareholders, and alumni deserve to know that the university and its affiliates are living up to that promise. If the current financial opacity continues, confidence in the administration’s commitments will continue to erode. Only when the investment policies are public knowledge can we work together to uphold the principles that this institution has adopted, while ensuring the university’s financial health and success. Ball State is seen as one of the most sustainable schools in the nation and has taken many steps to achieve this creditability. Some examples of what Ball State has done is having the largest geothermal in the country, all of our buildings meet LEED silver certification, and Ball State has received several awards for being environmentally conscious. However, if Ball State University is investing fossil fuel companies, Ball State is being hypocritical in their actions. For Ball State to be a truly sustainable campus, transparency of funds and not investing in fossil fuel corporations are essential next steps. Not to mention, 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 Sandy alone caused $50bn 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. As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on Ball State University to immediately freeze any new investment in fossil-fuel companies, and to divest within five years from direct ownership and from any commingled funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds. We believe such action on behalf of Ball State University will not only be a sound decision for our institution’s financial portfolio, but also for the wellbeing of its current and future graduating classes, who deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate chaos.

As Christians we have a commitment to justice for the poor who are already suffering the worst effects of climate change and have done little to cause it. More frequent and intense hurricanes and flooding, longer and more frequent droughts and sea-level rise is already a reality that millions face across the globe, especially in the developing world. Climate changing is having a negative impact of food security leading to famine and conflict. In addition to the thousands of fatalities caused by these climate disasters many more people are forced from their homes. We accept the science that climate change is being driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. We acknowledge that this is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels. We accept, as has been internationally agreed, global temperature rise is should be limited to less than 2.C to avert the worst impacts of climate change. The Fossil fuel companies have five times more coal, oil and gas in their reserves than we can safely burn and stay below 2.C global temperature rise. If no action is taken then these reserves will be burnt and the resulting climate change will be catastrophic. We must keep the oil in the soil, the coal in the hole and the gas beneath the grass. The church should take a moral stand and withdraw its investment from the fossil fuel industry. Through their contribution to climate change, oil spills, air pollution (causing thousands of deaths a year) and destruction of ecosystems the fossil fuel companies have lost their social license to operate.

There is a worldwide movement which focuses on leaving as much of the earth's carbon reserves as possible in the ground. Scientists have done the simple math. We have increased the temperature by less than 1 degree Celsius and it is hard to imagine what life will be like when we reach 2 degrees Celsius. We can release up to 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels and stay below 2 degrees C of warming. If we burn more than that we risk catastrophe for life on earth. Fossil fuel corporations how have 2,795 gigatons in their reserves - five times the safe amount. If fuel companies carry out their stated missions by utilizing the known reserves they currently own or have rights to, Earth will become inhospitable to life as we know it.

We, the undersigned, acknowledge and applaud the important commitment that UQ is making to embedding sustainability across all aspects of learning, discovery, engagement and operations. One important aspect of UQ’s ecological footprint that we would like to bring the University’s attention to is responsible financial investment. UQ’s 2012 financial statements list $105 million of UQ’s assets invested either in a managed portfolio or directly in listed and unlisted shares. It is reasonable to expect that a significant fraction of this is currently invested in companies that produce fossil fuels. It is now widely understood that we cannot safely burn even one-third of global fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years. We are already witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently; in the last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and extreme rainfall. These events had a grave impact on hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country billions of dollars. Experts agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify these tragic climate disasters. Adopting the Brundtland definition of sustainability, continued fossil fuel extraction and consumption is inconsistent with the rights of future generations to a safe and habitable world and is therefore unsustainable. Through its current investment portfolio, UQ is facilitating and profiting from the continued and expanding extraction and burning of fossil fuels, despite the harm that these practices are known to be causing to many millions of people worldwide. Over past decades, universities have shown vision and leadership through divesting from the South African Apartheid regime, cluster munitions, and tobacco, and increasingly now from fossil fuels. We believe such action on behalf of UQ will contribute to the wellbeing of current and future students who deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate chaos. We also believe such action would be a sound decision for our institution’s financial portfolio, given falling coal and gas prices, rising costs and a high exchange rate all associated with fossil fuel projects, current and prospective. Furthermore, policies which effectively mitigate climate change pose a risk to the value of fossil fuel companies' assets. To preserve the quality of life for this and future generations worldwide, we call upon you to join a growing movement of universities and institutions around the world that have committed to preventing a more extreme climate by moving UQ’s investment portfolio beyond fossil fuels.

Our local authority has a duty to look out for the public good. Fossil fuels are in direct conflict with the public good: investing in them poses a risk both to investors and to the planet. So Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council should take a moral, political and economic stand against them by taking our money away from fossil fuel companies and putting it into investments that are less at risk from climate change legislation and more compatible with our values. Divestment from fossil fuels would make a powerful statement that the fossil fuel industry is morally and economically unviable, and that the people of Oxfordshire wish to support an alternative, sustainable energy future that will leave the planet in a shape that allows us, our children and grandchildren to live safely on it. Financial research has called into question the valuations of fossil fuel companies due to their reliance on reserves which may become unburnable if carbon legislation comes into effect.

RMIT is one the leading universities in Australia. It holds over $280 million in financial assets and it is not yet known to what extent these assets are exposed to the volatile, high-risk and environmentally destructive fossil fuel industry, which is driving and accelerating global greenhouse gas emissions and obstructing meaningful action to curb anthropogenic climate change. Fossil Free RMIT wants to see the university commit to it's own guidelines and standards, put it's money where it's PR is and move towards cleaner, more ethical and socially just investment solutions. 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, the state and corporations are unable and/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. RMIT has the opportunity to actively address this crisis we face by divesting from fossil fuels. Many colleges and universities across the world are divesting from fossil fuels as we speak and as we act together we realise our power to make meaningful change. Let's strengthen RMIT's already strong commitment to sustainability by going fossil-free!

(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.