THE BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS IS DESTROYING THE CLIMATE. The level of CO2 in the atmosphere on May 10 2013 reached 400 ppm, the highest level in human history, caused in large part by the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel corporations have 5 times more oil, coal and gas in known reserves than climate scientists think is safe to burn. EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS UNDERLINE THE URGENCY OF THE ISSUE. In just the last year, the US. has struggled to contend with extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, the Midwest drought and the Colorado wildfire. These events are serious reminders of the need to take bold action to curb climate change now. The impacts on Massachusetts' coastal communities and economy due to climate-related shifts will lead to billions of dollars of loss in the future. DIVESTMENT FROM FOSSIL FUELS IS A MORAL ISSUE Just like in the movements to divest from the tobacco industry or to end Apartheid in South Africa, climate change is a deeply moral issue. Nationwide, colleges, religious organizations, cities, and states are campaigning for divestment from fossil fuels on moral grounds: If it’s wrong to wreck the planet, then it’s also wrong to profit from that wreckage. INVESTMENT IN FOSSIL FUELS PRESENTS RISK. A report released by the Carbon Tracker Initiative and the London School of Economics shows that 60 to 80 percent of coal, oil and gas reserves held by the top 200 oil, gas and mining companies listed on the world’s stock exchanges could be considered unburnable and therefore far less valuable than thought. The value of fossil fuel investments is predicted to implode, bursting the “carbon bubble. INVESTMENT IN FOSSIL FUELS STUNTS MASSACHUSETTS’ OTHER GREEN EFFORTS. By investing in clean energy and energy efficiency, Massachusetts has shown the nation that we can reduce our impact on the climate while creating jobs. Investment in fossil fuels stunts those efforts. Big oil spends $167,000 daily lobbying the U.S. Congress, frequently to block clean energy solutions. On the other hand, divestment from fossil fuels is a logical extension of the Commonwealth’s consistently Green leadership. It’s time to invest in our future.

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.

Since climate change is already affecting people around the world, we need to step up as a community and take action. By divesting from fossil fuels, we can invest in other technologies that will help fuel the future without destroying the planet. In Oak Ridge, we have the power and resources to develop and implement these technologies, so we must lead the way by taking a stand against the fossil fuel industry.

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.