50 signatures reached
To: Vice Chancellor Debra Humphris & the Student Union
Divest Uni of Brighton from Fossil Fuels (DUB)
As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on University of Brighton 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 our 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.
Why is this important?
Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently. Brighton is portrayed as a green haven as the only area with a green constituency, however our University currently has no action towards divesting in fossil fuels. On the 17th of January 2020 the University of Brighton declared a climate emergency. They claimed that they are committed to sustainability having already 'delivered a 34% reduction in its carbon footprint since 2010'. Even so they are ignoring the fact that they still invest in fossil fuels which we find highly hypocritical as you cannot declare a climate emergency and still be funding fossil fuels. 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.