People & Planet

New Campaign Campaigns

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  University of Birmingham Fossil Free

  "If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage." Too many UK universities, including the University of Birmingham, 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, Shell and ExxonMobil. The fossil fuel industry has a concerning amount of influence over our education, with numerous members of the university’s advisory board working for fossil fuels companies. These include Tony Hayward, former chief executive of BP and current Glencore chairman, and Lord Browne former chief executive of BP and Cuadrilla company director. Additionally, companies affect educational programmes by funding research and professorships, such as the ExxonMobil Teaching Fellowship, formerly held by Chemical Engineering lecturers. 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 into 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 the University of Birmingham still does not recognise this. That’s about to change. 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. 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 the University of Birmingham 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. 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. WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF FUNDING AND INVESTMENT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM? Renewables: most of the technology needed to make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable has already been developed and is completely viable. It is simply the cultural and social custom adopted by the energy industries that needs to change. A global power shift. http://globalpowershift.org/frequently-asked-questions-faqs/ see: • International Energy Agency (World Energy Outlook Special Report 2013: Redrawing The Energy Climate Map) • Centre for Alternative Technology (Zero Carbon Britain: Rethinking the Future) • David Mackay FRS (Sustainable Energy – without the hot air) WHAT IS 'THE CARBON BUBBLE'? Investing in fossil fuels is fast becoming a risky investment: London School of Economics has reported the market will collapse in the coming years. See http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/publications/Policy/docs/PB-unburnable-carbon-2013-wasted-capital-stranded-assets.pdf

  519 of 600 Signatures

  Created by Rachel Kenyon
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  Divest Birkbeck

  Investment in fossil fuel industries drives fossil fuel consumption and its negative social and environmental impacts. Burning coal, oil, and gas release CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, both warming and polluting the planet. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if the status quo continues, the planet could warm by almost 5°C by 2100. This would have a catastrophic impact on human life. It would mean that our planet bears little resemblance to the one in which “civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted”, as James Hansen, a top climate scientist at NASA, put it. The second reason is that investment in these companies gives implicit support to their activities. It is a matter of social justice and duty that the University withdraw its investments in companies that actively contribute to global warming, the burden of which is being felt disproportionately by the world’s poorest countries, who are contributing least to climate change. Not only does this exacerbate global poverty, but it also perpetuates further social inequality between the global South and the global North. Divestment from fossil fuel firms will help remove fossil fuel companies’ social license to exploit the world's most impoverished nations. The third reason is that investment in fossil fuel companies runs contrary to the University’s environmental priorities. The University is pledging to reduce carbon emissions and embed sustainability into its business model and institutions' culture. It intends to be fully compliant with environmental legislation and promote environmental responsibility. On this basis and in light of the Paris agreement, we believe that we must act to help avert irreversible damage to ecosystems and life on earth. Fossil fuel companies are now subject to regulations aimed at preventing climate change. Recent research has shown that, if regulators are serious about mitigating climate change, a third of global oil reserves, half of all gas reserves, and over 80% of coal reserves will have to remain in the ground to limit global warming to 2ºC. This means fossil fuel firms would have to massively write down the value of assets on their balance sheets, leading to huge and sustained destruction in shareholder value. By divesting from fossil fuels, the University will join a long list of respected institutions already committed to going fossil free, which include over 50% of all UK universities (https://sustainability.nus.org.uk/divest-investold/articles/over-50-of-uk-universities-divest-from-fossil-fuels), including Goldsmiths, Bath Spa University, Manchester University, Oxford City Council, Trinity College, the World Council of Churches, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The global divestment campaign is growing, and together we can make a statement about how we want our future to look. We urge all students, alumni, staff and members of the public to sign the petition to support the divestment campaign at Birkbeck, and an end to social and environmental devastation. _________________________________ NOTE: This petition was updated on 25 February 2021 to reflect the latest available investment figures disclosed by Birkbeck in January 2021.

  518 of 600 Signatures

  Created by Suzanne Henry
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  Fossil Free Oxford University

  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.

  2,690 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Louise Hazan
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  Divest The Open University from fossil fuels

  To support the speediest conversion to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, encourage politicians to get serious themselves, and to be a consistent part of the solution rather than a part of the problem.

  1,058 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Simon Barton
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  Divest money from fossil fuels Loughborough University!

  Loughborough's endowment fund (http://alumni.lboro.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=1062), with one part funded by alumni to benefit generation upon generation of students through the interest the fund earns, should not do so at the expense of our planet. 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.

  1,019 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by LSU Ethics and Environment
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  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Divest

  The School states there are ethical restrictions on its investments, that its guiding values include environmental sustainability and that among its aims are to ‘ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the School’ (3). It is clear the School’s values, aims and ethical responsibilities would converge on a commitment to divest from fossil fuels. Environment: The School funds research into the effects of climate change on health whilst simultaneously profiting from fossil fuels, the root cause of climate change. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report chapter on ‘Human Health: Impacts, Adaptation, and Co-Benefits’ edited by Prof. Andy Haines, has raised awareness about the health impacts of climate change and pollution. The IPCC report states that ‘People who are socially, economically, culturally, politically, institutionally or otherwise marginalized are especially vulnerable to climate change’ (4). Climate change is, according to the Lancet, ‘the greatest threat to human health in the 21 century’. One of the guiding principles of medical practice is ‘do no harm’; as a school rooted in medicine and health these values should not only be applied to immediate practises, but to the full range of the School’s activities. Finance: The share prices of the companies the school is invested in are dependant on the value of their known carbon reserves. More than 100 countries have adopted a global warming limit of 2 °C or below (relative to pre-industrial levels) as a guiding principle for mitigation efforts to reduce climate change risks, impacts and damage (6). In order to keep global warming below this threshold 80% of known carbon reserves will have to remain in the ground (7). Recently the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, told the World Bank that ‘the majority of the world’s reserves are unburnable’ (8) and commissioned the bank to examine “the vulnerability that fossil fuel assets could pose to the stability of the financial system in a carbon constrained world” (9). The School is unnecessarily exposing itself to stranded assets. The current low price of oil and instability of the market are reflected in the share values of the School’s three direct fossil fuel investments, all of which have fallen 20% since June 2014. It must be recognised that these investments are inherently unstable and not a sustainable place to invest the School’s endowments. We, students and staff at LSHTM, demand that the School must break ties with the fossil fuel industry. We want LSHTM to: • Identify and publicly report all financial ties, contracts and agreements with the fossil fuel industry including direct and indirect (e.g. via banks and co-mingled funds) investments, sponsorship and advertising agreements, and research funding. • End current investments in fossil fuel companies immediately and shift funds to lower risk, ethical investments. • No longer partner with or accept funding from fossil fuel companies. • Terminate existing agreements and contracts, including sponsorships, advertising, and funding. • Make no future investments or partnerships with fossil fuel companies. • Set and publish timelines for completion of all demands, including regular progress reports and an analysis of potential risks and causes of delay, all of which are easily accessible online, not just by request 1. Freedom of Information Request, 3/12/2014 2. http://fossilfreeindexes.com/the-carbon-underground-2014/ 3. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/introducing/mission/strategy_2012_2017.pdf 4. IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Summary 5. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29310475 6. Meunshausen, M. et al., 2009. Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2 degrees C. Nature, 458(7242), pp.1158-62. 7. 350.org 8. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/13/mark-carney-fossil-fuel-reserves-burned-carbon-bubble 9. http://www.carbontracker.org/news/bank-of-englands-momentous-move-on-climate-change/

  497 of 500 Signatures

  Created by Alice Munro
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  Divest Lancaster University from Unethical Investment

  It's 2021 and Lancaster University is STILL investing in fossil fuels to the tune of £171,753. UK universities support the fossil fuel industry directly through investments in companies such as BP and Shell. Lancaster University's involvement with this industry is incompatible with their image as a green university, actively promoting renewable energy and sustainability. When this campaign began in 2014 around 14% of the university's current investments were in fossil fuels and nearly 4% of investments were 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://peopleandplanet.org/university/129384#fossil-free-scorecard Link to our early research: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/university_investments_2?nocache=incoming-575353#incoming-575353

  1,418 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Orla McKeon-Carter
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  Divest York from Fossil Fuels

  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.

  1,306 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by YUSU Environment
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  Divest Imperial from Fossil Fuels

  Climate change has been described as the most serious challenge of our generation. Under the United Nations Copenhagen Accord, countries have agreed to limit warming to 2 degrees to prevent dangerous climate change. Moreover, investing in fossil fuels poses a serious financial risk. According to recent research led by Professor Lord Stern at LSE, two-thirds of current fossil fuels reserves are unburnable if climate change is to be kept to the globally-agreed limit of 2 degrees of warming [3]. In this regard, we call upon the Endowment Fund Board to issue explicit guidance to ensure the funds are divested away from fossil fuels, for the sake of current and future generations. References: [1] FOI Request [2] People & Planet, Platform, 350.org: http://peopleandplanet.org/dl/fossil-free/knowledge-power-report.pdf [3] Carbon Tracker Initiative Report (Carbon Tracker & The Grantham Research Institute, LSE) : http://www.carbontracker.org/wastedcapital

  2,077 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Tara Clarke
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  University of Liverpool: Divest from Fossil Fuels

  This is important because the University of Liverpool currently invests £12 million per year in the fossil fuel industry, which is 8% of their endowment. The time to reduce fossil fuel consumption is running out, and by not divesting, the University appears to be endorsing the actions of the fossil industry, and thereby failing to act on the issue of human-induced climate change. Climate change negatively affects the poorest most, and by not divesting from fossil fuels the University shows a callous disregard for the poorest populations and most vulnerable. The university is home to a leading institute for renewable energy research, yet they cannot actively be a world leader in green energy whilst funding the most polluting industry on earth. The students of this University clearly care about the environment and have created a movement within their Guild of Students to help implement a greener University (Green Guild). If this University wishes to abide by the active will of the student body, they will divest from this morally corrupt and ethically questionable industry without delay.

  201 of 300 Signatures

  Created by Joe Ferguson