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To: Blekinge Tekniska Högskola
Fossil Free Blekinge Tekniska Högskola
We would like Blekinge Institute of Technology (Blekinge Tekniska Högskola -BTH) to go Fossil Free through divesting from fossil fuels. The money that funds our education and thus our future, should not support old-tech energy sources that accelerating climate change. It is time for our university to divest all their assets from fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas) and take advance in supporting new clean energy.
What we ask from BTH is that they show leadership and ambition through agreeing:
1 - To cease making new investments in fossil fuel companies
2 - To phase out (divest) all existing investments in fossil fuels within 5 years
3 - To release updates, available to the public, detailing progress made towards full divestment
4 - To call on the pension funds of university employees, such as the AP-funds, to also divest
Through divesting from fossil fuels, BTH can show that they are serious about tackling climate change, and take a strong stand for our future as students and citizens.
Why is this important?
Fossil Free is an international campaign to move our common assets (tax money and other resources) from investments in oil, coal and gas.
According to the report, "Unburnable Carbon" from the Carbon Tracker Initiative, humanity can afford the absolute maximum a 2-degree global temperature rise. To stay below 2 degrees we can afford to emit a maximum of 565 gigatons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2050. According to the same report, however, sits fossils industry already on gas, coal and oil wells as the extraction and combustion would cause the release of 2,795 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, which is 5 times the scientifically designated limit. From this we can calculate that, if we want to enable our kids to live in a harmonious nature, 80% of existing fossil fuels must be left underground.
The right thing to do is divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in a sustainable future.