500 signatures reached
To: The Vice Chancellor of the University of Technology Sydney:Professor Attila Brungs
Fossil Free UTS
We call on the University Council to:
- Investigate and disclose the full carbon exposure of its investments;
- Implement policies which stop any new investments in fossil fuel companies;
- Develop a plan to move its portfolio away from fossil fuels towards cleaner solutions;
- Release annual updates, available to the public, detailing progress made toward full divestment.
Why is this important?
There is unequivocal evidence that emissions from fossil fuels are driving runaway climate change, with devastating global environmental and humanitarian consequences, while causing irreversible harm to the health, water, forests and farmland of local communities.
As members of the university community, we believe UTS, as a public institution of learning and knowledge, has a responsibility to invest its funds ethically. By ending its investments in the coal, oil and gas industries, the university can affirm its position as a leader in social innovation and encourage the move towards a sustainable, low-carbon future.
As governments and markets begin to react to the threat of climate change, planned divestment will strengthen the university’s portfolio. Moreover, studies of fossil fuel divestment suggest that a portfolio that eliminated fossil fuel companies from the ASX 200 index exhibited similar risk return characteristics as the index which included fossil fuels.