Universités Zéro Fossile

New Campaign Campaigns

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  FOSSIL FREE HEC Paris

  The IPCC and other scholars have estimated that to have at least a 50% chance to stay below a temperature increase of 2°C within the 21st century, we have to limit the cumulative greenhouse gas emissions between 2011 and 2050 to approximately 1.100 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e)[1]. In contrast, research also discovered that global fossil fuel reserves contain 2900 GtCO2e in total, which means that at least 33% of global oil, 50% of global natural gas and over 80% of global coal reserves must remain unused in order to probably meet the 2°C target.[2] Nevertheless, oil, gas and coal mining companies continue to invest hundreds of billions of dollars per year into the exploration and production of new reserves (USD 674bn in 2012)[3], although an extensive body of research from the University of Oxford, the Carbon Tracker Initiative in collaboration with the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Chatham House, HSBC, The Economist Intelligence Unit, Kepler Chevreux, the Bank of England, and from many more renowned organisations has underlined the high and growing carbon risk embedded in fossil fuel assets[4]. These assets will lose their value before the end of their economic life (known as stranded assets) if political leaders implement stricter climate policies necessary to limit global warming to 2°C. In addition to the continuation of business as usual, fossil fuel companies engage in lobbying and disinformation campaigns to prevent climate change legislation[5].These points illustrate that the fossil fuel companies' business model and practices are fundamentally inconsistent with climate change mitigation and undermine the globally supported 2°C target. The investment in and support of fossil fuel companies to continue business as usual is neither in line with HEC's mission and values[6] nor does it contribute to climate change mitigation. If HEC Paris wants to educate and train global leaders of tomorrow to contribute to society as a whole, then HEC has to support a global legally binding climate agreement to be formulated and signed in Paris. Investments in fossil fuel companies which hold and are ready to produce a carbon-intensive asset base while pushing global temperature increase beyond 2°C are first and foremost a threat to the future of humanity and, in addition, pose a significant and urgent economic risk. References: [1] See McGlade, Ekins (2015). The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2°C. Nature. Vol. 517. January 2015. [2] See McGlade, Ekins (2015). The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2°C. Nature. Vol. 517. January 2015; see also Mitchell et al. (2015). Oil and Gas Mismatches: Finance, Investment and Climate Policy. Research Paper of the Chatham House: The Royal Institute of International Affairs. [3] See Carbon Tracker Initiative and Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (2013). Unburnable Carbon 2013: Wasted capital and stranded assets. [4] See Asnar et al. (2013). Stranded assets and the fossil fuel divestment campaign: what does divestment mean for the valuation of fossil fuel assets? Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford; and See Carbon Tracker Initiative and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (2013). Unburnable Carbon 2013: Wasted capital and stranded assets; and see Mitchell et al. (2015).Oil and Gas Mismatches: Finance, Investment and Climate Policy. Research Paper of the Chatham House: The Royal Institute of International Affairs; and HSBC stated that "we believe stranding risks for assets are relatively high this year and growing." Paun et al. (2015). Stranded assets: what next? How investors can manage increasing fossil fuel risk. HSBC Global Research; and see The Economist Intelligence Unit (2015). The cost of inaction: recognising the value at risk from climate change; and Kepler Chevreux states that "USD 28trn of fossil-fuel revenues [are] at risk in a 450-ppm world"; Kepler Chevreux (2015). Stranded assets, fossilised revenues. ESG Sustainability Research; and see Carrington (2015). Bank of England warns of huge financial risk from fossil fuel investments. The Guardian Online. [5] For an overview see for instance Fossil Free MIT (2014). The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Role in Hindering Climate Change Action: Lobbying and Disinformation Against Science and Scientists. [6] See HEC Paris (2015). About HEC Paris: Mission and Values. HEC Paris website.

  208 of 300 Signatures

  Created by David Kampmann
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  Libérons Sciences-Po de l'industrie fossile!

  (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

  1,816 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Sciences Po Zéro Fossile