People & Planet

New Campaign Campaigns

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  SUSSEX UNIVERSITY DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN

  According to the most recent projections, the world is headed on a course to global warming of 4 degrees by the end of this century if we carry on emitting CO2 at current rates. [1] It is clear that fossil fuels are not the way forward, and that we must end our addiction to carbon and find sustainable energy alternatives before it is too late. Despite this, our governments and institutions continue to invest vast sums in companies extracting oil and gas, giving them huge public subsidies that have helped to make them some of the most profitable companies in the world. The University of Sussex is renowned as a progressive institution, and we believe that the University should lead by example and join dozens of other universities, religious institutions and local governments across the world that have already committed to investing its money ethically, and going fossil free. Collectively, we have the opportunity to send an important signal to our governments and the private sector about the urgent moral and financial imperative of phasing out fossil fuels.

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  Created by Rachel Mohun
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  University of Exeter Fossil Free Campaign

  JPMorgan Chase is one of the worlds largest investment banks and as such has its fingers in a great many pots. Unfortunately some of these pots come with some truly terrible baggage, from fossil fuels to animal testing JPMorgan invests in them all. This sadly includes being the US's largest share holders in PetroChina, a company which has been widely recognized and condemned for helping finance genocide in Sudan. That means in a single company your tuition fees have direct connections to both the worsening of Climate Change and a Genocide that stills claims more than 100 lives every day. For a University to profit from any of these causes is wrong beyond belief but to be involved in all of them and more is a complete catastrophe. By signing you are telling the University that this cannot continue and that you support the campaign for not just a Fossil Free Exeter but an Ethically Invested Exeter as well.

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  Created by Robin Ellis-Cockcroft
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  University of Reading to go Fossil Free #UoRFossilFree

  Recently, charities and corporations alike have come under fire in relation to their investments in the top two hundred coal, oil and gas companies worldwide. It is our belief that the University of Reading, as an academic institution within the top 1% of universities in the world, needs to take a lead on divestment. It would allow the University of Reading to set a strong precedent for being ethical and sustainable when making investment choices. The current investment practices of the University are inconsistent with the institution's Environmental Policy, which states that it ‘takes environmental responsibilities seriously’ and commits to ‘achieving the highest standards of environmental performance, preventing pollution and minimising the impact of its operations’. If the University is committed to working towards increased sustainability in its activities then this approach should be reflected in its investments. This is why RUSU wants the University to take a sector lead on adopting a Socially Responsible Investments Policy. If you're interested in the campaign, please read our document 'Why the University of Reading needs to adopt a Socially Responsible Investments Policy' as well as checking out our Facebook page. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1EpAf9F0ADhclFWM3BwV2VpaFk/view - Why the University need to adopt a Socially Responsible Investments Policy. https://www.facebook.com/FossilizedFees Join our Facebook page!

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  Created by Chloe Bartlett
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  Divest NUI Galway From Fossil Fuels

  Currently, NUI Galway has at least 3.4 million Euro invested in oil and gas shares globally. Though shares in these fossil fuel companies may prove to be profitable in the short-term, research indicates that at least 80% of fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground in order to prevent catastrophic changes to our climate. Therefore, it is the responsibility of public institutions to disengage in partnerships and support of fossil fuel companies in favor of more sustainable and ethical investments that will promote the health and welfare of both the planet, and all of her peoples.

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  Created by Colm Duffy
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  University of Aberdeen: Divest from Fossil Fuels

  The future of Aberdeen graduates is currently threatened by climate change. Already we are suffering the effects of a 1°C rise in global average temperatures, and world leaders agree that the warming must be contained at a 2°C increase in order to avoid catastrophic global effects. UN climate chief Christina Figueres has called on investors to divest from fossil fuels, saying “The pensions, life insurances and nest eggs of billions of ordinary people depend on the long-term security and stability of institutional investment funds. Climate change increasingly poses one of the biggest long-term threats to those investments and the wealth of the global economy.” In order to avoid global temperatures rising further than a 2°C increase, as much as 80% of currently known fossil fuel reserves will have to be left in the ground - yet the value of fossil fuel assets is based on the extraction of all those reserves. When the world gets serious about climate change, these "carbon bubbles" will burst and the value of fossil fuel shares will plummet. This is why the university not only has a moral, but also a financial duty to withdraw its investments from the fossil fuel industry. We call on the University of Aberdeen to join other universities leading the way on this issue and protect the future of its students by divesting from the fossil fuel industry now.

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  Created by Eva Nohe
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  Divest UWS From Fossil Fuels

  The University of the West of Scotland has over £1 million worth of investments. Numerous companies that the University invests in, including Shell have been accused of human rights abuses. For more information about our campaign and to get involved, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/362019827317758/ Further reading: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/08/glasgow-becomes-first-university-in-europe-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels

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  Created by Kevin McKinley
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  Durham University: Divest from Fossil Fuels

  At the moment Durham University has an investment policy that states that they won't invest in arms or tobacco companies. But no such policy against investing in fossil fuel companies exists. Carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels results in the heating of the atmosphere. A rise of more than 2˚C in global temperatures is enough to put the world beyond the acceptable limits as outlined by scientists. Fossil fuel companies already have proven reserves of five times the amount needed to take us past this limit. At the moment the share price of fossil fuel companies is based on the idea that all the reserves held by fossil fuel companies will be burnt. This situation is of course not viable given the severely detrimental impact it will have on the environment. This disparity between the safely useable reserves and the proven reserves results in fossil fuel companies being not as safe a long-term investment as they are held up to be. Given the massive amounts of damage fossil fuel companies do to the lives of people around the world, the obvious environmental costs of the industry and the long term instability of fossil fuels as an investment, Durham University People & Planet Society are calling on the university to divest any money it has invested in fossil fuel companies and to add fossil fuels to the list of things in which it will not invest in the future.

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  Created by Durham University People and Planet Society
• Divest Lancaster University from Unethical Investment

  UK universities support the fossil fuel industry directly through investments in companies such as BP and Shell. Lancaster University's involvement within this industry is incompatible with their image as a green university, actively promoting renewable energy and sustainability. Around 14% of the university's current investments are in fossil fuels and nearly 4% of investments are in the arms trade. These investments are incompatible with the view of Lancaster as an ethical and environmentally friendly university, and we believe an increased awareness and lobbying by students will encourage the university management to adopt an ethical investment policy. Link to our most up to date information on the University's investments: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/university_investments_2?nocache=incoming-575353#incoming-575353 Link to the research we have conducted into these companies: http://lancasterethicalinvestment.tumblr.com/

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  Created by Orla McKeon-Carter
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  Divest York from Fossil Fuels

  The University is manifestly failing in their commitment not to 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.

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  Created by YUSU Environment
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  Make the University of Leeds Fossil Free!

  To put the University of Leeds at the forefront of the global movement to reject our reliance on fossil fuels. To follow the successful example of the University of Glasgow, who have recently achieved a divestment policy. To achieve transparency, so that students (current and prospective) know where their money is going, and all members of the University know its position on environmental issues. From 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. For more information: http://peopleandplanet.org/fossil-free http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/08/glasgow-becomes-first-university-in-europe-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels https://www.facebook.com/groups/pandpleeds/?fref=ts https://www.leeds.ac.uk/secretariat/documents/socially_responsible_investment.pdf

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  Created by Edie Boon