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  CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELS

  Fossil fuel companies’ current reserves of oil, coal and gas hold 5 times more carbon than the world’s atmosphere can safely handle. Their business plan will cause climate chaos for billions of us, yet UK universities still collectively invest £5.2 billion in fossil fuel companies (1). The University of Cambridge and Colleges have an overall endowment that equates to almost £5 billion (Ibid.). Without an ethical policy (unlike universities such as Oxford, UCL and St. Andrews), this money is invested in companies without consideration of their catastrophic environmental impact. At a global and local level, the impacts of these investments contradict the University’s positive contributions to society, through research and education. Over the past two years the global divestment movement has shown the very real path to a sustainable, fossil-free future. Regarding fossil fuels, the divestment campaign is the fastest growing climate justice campaign in history. So far, $2.6 trillion has been divested from fossil fuels by 456 institutions (Ibid.). It is recognised across the world that global temperatures must remain no more than 2°C higher than in pre-industrial times if climate change is not to destroy our entire way of life (Ibid.). For this to happen, study after study has demonstrated that 80% of currently known fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground (Ibid.). This view is endorsed by mainstream elements of society, from Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, to the United Nations. Companies like BP and Shell – and the University’s investments in them—are not part of a sustainable future, no matter how they, or the University, might pretend otherwise. Small investments in renewables are far outweighed by the catastrophic impacts of continued oil extraction. In universities around this country and the world, divestment is denying these companies their moral acceptability – Cambridge needs to catch up. In the University’s “Dear World...” Campaign, it has positioned itself as the driving force for a better future. If it wants anyone to respect that, it needs to demonstrate moral leadership and distance itself from the fossil fuel industry. Fortunately, the working group on investment recently set up by the University presents the perfect opportunity, just a month before the historic climate summit in Paris. All moral and financial arguments point to the same thing – divestment from fossil fuels. References: (1) People and Planet (2013). Knowledge and Power: Fossil Free Universities Report. https://peopleandplanet.org/dl/fossil-free/knowledge-power-report.pdf

  2,391 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Zero Carbon Cambridge
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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.

  1,002 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by LSU Ethics and Environment
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  Divest Tower Hamlets

  Tower Hamlets Council currently has an estimated £91,764,000 invested in fossil fuel companies. This represents 8.76% of their fund. Ethically, environmentally and economically, there is no justification for such holdings. These investments directly undermine Tower Hamlets' own commitment to 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 [2] as they are directly fueling ever riskier, costlier forms of extraction, which no longer represent the relatively bankable return they have been historically as the fossil fuel energy market grows ever more volatile. Climate change is the greatest crisis humanity has ever faced. The 20 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1981 and 2014 was the hottest ever [3] with 2015 on course to take that unenviable title [4]. Higher average temperatures are directly linked to extreme weather events such as intensified heatwaves; longer more arid droughts; wilder forest fires; stronger, more frequent storms and the resultant flooding; and glacier melt has increased drastically, which not only means rising sea-levels but more of the suns rays being absorbed rather than reflected back, causing a further increase in temperatures. Climate change does not just manifest itself in these ever worsening weather patterns. A recent study [5] attributed the record 2007 - 2010 drought in Syria as a reason for farmers abandoning their land for the city, where their presence has been a major factor in the social unrest that led to the war that has ravaged the country ever since [6]. We now see this being played out in the form of the humanitarian and political crises with which Europe is now struggling to cope. Such events are only going to increase as our shared world becomes hotter and drier. National borders are meaningless in the face of hostile weather. Moreover, worsening levels of air pollution are now regarded as a major world killer [7]. In Tower Hamlets an estimated 138 people a year die as a result of air pollution [8]. At the core of all these problems is the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists have unanimously concluded that these changes are a consequence of human activity, arising from the burning of fossil fuels [9]. The fossil fuel industry have taken a threefold approach to this. Firstly, they have spent significant amounts of money to create a body of disruptive disinformation campaigns that undermine climate science in the minds of the general public [10]. Secondly, they have created a lobbying juggernaut to flatten any political efforts to limit global warming [11]. Thirdly, they have expanded their business practice to focus on ever riskier, costlier and ultimately more disastrous extraction methods such as fracking and deep-water drilling; the latter having led to the largest marine oil spill in history [12]. If it is wrong to continue to wreck the Earth’s climate, then it follows that it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. There are also increasing indications that the profitability of the fossil fuel industry will decrease significantly in coming years. If action is taken to limit global warming and a large degree of carbon reserves are left in the ground, shares in fossil fuel companies will drop significantly in value [13]. As such, pension funds currently investing in fossil fuels risk exposure to this 'carbon bubble', while there is already evidence that fossil fuel-free portfolios are capable of out-performing those including fossil fuel investments [14]. For in depth analyses of these and related risks, see: http://gofossilfree.org/frequently-asked-questions/ http://www.carbontracker.org/ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/fossil-fuel-divestment 'Do The Math' documentary: https://youtu.be/KuCGVwJIRd0 References [1] http://fossilfreeindexes.com/research/the-carbon-underground/ [2] http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/environment_and_planning/sustainability/carbon_reduction.aspx [3] http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201412 [4] http://www.weather.com/news/climate/news/earth-warmest-january-may-2015 [5] http://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3241 [6] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150302-syria-war-climate-change-drought/ [7] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/ [8] http://www.itv.com/news/london/2015-07-15/londons-toxic-air-how-is-your-london-borough-affected/ [9] http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf [10] http://www.fossilfreemit.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/FossilFreeMIT-Lobbying-Disinformation.pdf [11] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/25/fossil-fuel-firms-are-still-bankrolling-climate-denial-lobby-groups [12] http://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill-of-2010 [13] http://www.carbontracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Unburnable-Carbon-Full-rev2-1.pdf [14] https://www.msci.com/resources/factsheets/index_fact_sheet/msci-acwi-ex-fossil-fuels-index-gbp-gross.pdf

  1,109 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Patrick McFadden
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  Malmö University: Divest from fossil fuels

  För svensk översättning, se nedan _____________________ Although Malmö University prides itself on being committed to sustainability, they invest in non-sustainable energy companies using non-renewable resources. Burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil create greenhouse gases which produce carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide which are polluting our air. Other consequences of greenhouse gases are rising temperatures, climate change, melting glaciers and increased water levels. The time has come for Malmö University to put their money where their mouth is by breaking any ties with fossil fuels. _____________________ Trots att Malmö universitet utmärker sig själva som hållbara investerar de i ohållbara energiföretag som använder icke förnybara energikällor. Att bränna fossila bränslen som kol, naturgas och olja skapar växthusgaser som producerar koldioxid och kväveoxid som förorenar vår luft. Andra konsekvenser av växthusgaser är stigande temperaturer, klimatförändringar, smältande glaciärer och stigande vattenhöjd. Tiden är inne för Malmö universitet att sätta sina pengar där deras vision ligger genom att bryta alla band till fossila bränslen. For more information e-mail: fenix@karen.mah.se

  37 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Fenix Miljöförening
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  Divest Enfield Council from fossil fuels

  Fossil fuels will soon become obsolete. They are a fuel source that is no longer wanted, as a recognised danger to the health of humans, wildlife, and the planet. They are also a fuel source that is no longer needed, as so many cheap and abundant renewable fuel sources wait to be harnessed. The shift to clean energy is inevitable. In November 2016 the Paris Agreement was ratified: "Recognizing the need for an effective and progressive response to the urgent threat of climate change on the basis of the best available scientific knowledge." However, in November 2017, Fossil Free UK revealed that councils across the UK were investing more than £16billion in the fossil fuel industry. The London Borough of Enfield Pension Fund has itself invested more than £60million in such companies, representing 5.6% of its £1billion total investments. Given the damage that fossil fuels have already caused to our environment, and the growing threat of man-made climate change as a danger both to us and to future generations, fossil fuels represent an unethical investment. But there is also strong evidence that such financial investments are highly risky. Coal use in the UK has fallen by 74% over the past decade, and the government has pledged that all coal-fired power stations will close by 2025. Other fossil fuels such as oil and gas face sharp declines in future, as renewable sources overtake them. The Divest Movement seeks to persuade public institutions that ditching investments in fossil fuel companies is the right decision to make on both a moral and financial basis. Over the border from Enfield, Waltham Forest Council recently became the first UK local authority to fully commit to divest from fossil fuels. If Enfield Council did the same, it too could become a leader in the global shift to a fossil free future.

  54 of 100 Signatures

  Created by James Cracknell
• Alumni Call for Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, to Divest from Fossil Fuels

  Investments are a statement about how an institution sees the future. While LMH remains invested in fossil fuels, it aligns its financial interest with, and endorses the behaviour of, the most destructive industry on the planet. Such a practice is inconsistent with LMH's reputation as a pioneer in social justice: we are the college that ended the exclusion of women at Oxford in 1878 and established the innovative Foundation Year in 2017 to address equality of representation at Oxford. It is time for LMH to acknowledge climate change as the issue of our era, a driver of both environmental destruction and global inequality. It is time for LMH to stop profiting from the causes of climate change. In the past, LMH has taken a stance on issues such as tobacco through its investment decisions, and edited its Statement of Investment Principles in May 2017 to include a provision that allows ethical concerns to guide its decision making. The stage is set for LMH to act on climate change, to lead as the first Oxford institution to do so, and to join hundreds of other institutions around the world that have already divested from fossil fuels. Oxford scholars are at the forefront of research on the impacts of climate change, and were lead authors of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report - the global authority on climate science. The report made clear that 80% of known fossil fuel reserves must remain unburned to stay below the critical threshold of two degrees of global warming. Fossil fuel companies continue to disregard this scientific consensus. They are committed to burning 100% of their reserves, are actively exploring for more in ever more extreme environments, and are lobbying extensively to block meaningful action on climate change. Leading actors in the financial sector acknowledge that fossil fuel investments are increasingly risky, given that known reserves will become ‘unburnable’ in a carbon constrained world. This work is being championed by Oxford Smith School’s own ‘Stranded Assets’ programme. We may already be seeing the influence of the IPCC research on the oil market: a recent report by Deutsche Bank suggested that last year’s drop in oil prices was driven by growing consciousness of a carbon budget and political momentum. By divesting from fossil fuels, LMH can adopt the best investment practice both ethically and financially, act for the future of its scholars and alumni, and add its weight to the political momentum that is already undermining the industry. As LMH alumni and donors, we urge our alma mater to take action on climate change and divest from fossil fuels.

  1 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Julia Peck
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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

  1,367 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Sciences Po Zéro Fossile
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  Calling On Falmouth University To Commit To Never Invest In Fossil Fuels

  At the moment, there is no policy in place which stops our University investing in Fossil Fuels. We want this to change. Even though there are no investments at the moment, doesn't mean they won't in the future. We believe that it is incredibly hypocritical that an institution entrusted to prepare its students for the future should not profit from destroying it at the most fundamental level. As a forward thinking, up and coming university, is it right for Falmouth to profit from such morally questionable industries? If you are a student, academic, alumni or a concerned citizen who feels that Falmouth University should be challenged on this issue please add your signature to this petition and contact Divest Penryn to become more actively involved in this campaign!

  10 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Conor Cowden
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  Kein Geld für Kohle, Öl und Gas - Erzbistum Freiburg soll Fossil Free werden

  Kohle-, Öl- und Gasunternehmen treiben die Klimakrise weiter voran und behindern seit Jahrzehnten Klimaschutzmaßnahmen. Es ist Zeit, dass unsere Institutionen Stellung beziehen und ihre Gelder aus fossilen Brennstoffen abziehen. Wir dürfen kaum noch fossile Brennstoffe verbrennen, damit sich die Erde, wie von den Regierungen im Pariser Klimaschutzabkommen vereinbart, nicht um mehr als 1,5 °C erwärmt. Wenn die derzeit bestehenden Kohle-, Öl- und Gasprojekte nicht frühzeitig beendet werden, werden die Temperaturen weltweit aufgrund der Emissionen um über 2 °C ansteigen. Das bedeutet, dass es keine neuen fossilen Brennstoffprojekte mehr geben darf und wir laufende Projekte stoppen müssen. Hunderte Glaubensgemeinschaften, Konfessionen und religiöse Einrichtungen weltweit engagieren sich im Bereich Klimaschutz und viele gehen Divestment-Verpflichtungen ein. Auch in Deutschland wird es Zeit, dass die Kirchen ihr Geld aus Firmen abziehen, die ihren Umsatz mit der Förderung fossiler Energieträger machen. Dass Kohle, Öl und Gas ersetzt werden müssen, sagt auch Papst Franziskus: „Wir wissen, dass die Technologie, die auf den sehr umweltschädlichen fossilen Brennstoffen – vor allem von Kohle, aber auch von Erdöl und…Gas – basiert, fortschreitend und unverzüglich ersetzt werden muss” (Papst Franziskus, Laudato Si, 165) Institutionen, die weiterhin in fossile Brennstoffe investieren, setzen öffentliche Gelder einem enormen finanziellen Risiko aus und unterstützen eine Branche, die aktiv Klimaschutzmaßnahmen behindert. Sie sollten stattdessen lieber den Ausstieg aus fossilen Brennstoffen unterstützen und in Technologien investieren, die eine emissionsfreie Energieversorgung ermöglichen.

  220 of 300 Signatures

  Created by Tamara Nausner
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  Divest Brent Council from Fossil Fuels

  We believe divestment from fossil fuels to be not only ethically and environmentally correct, but also financially prudent. Climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has encountered. The 20 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1981 and 2016 was the hottest ever [1]. Higher average temperatures are directly linked to extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Scientists have unanimously concluded that these changes are a consequence of human activity, arising from the burning of fossil fuels [2]. Moreover, this activity has resulted in unprecedented levels of air pollution, now regarded as a major world killer [3]. In a speech at Lloyd’s of London in September 2015, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England said that by the time ‘climate change becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too late’. Carney warned investors that policies to address climate change ‘would render the vast majority of reserves ‘stranded’ – oil, gas and coal that will be literally unburnable’ [4]. In order to continue developing fossil fuel reserves – particularly in the difficult areas where the remaining reserves are located (including the Arctic, the mouth of the Amazon and tar sands in sensitive areas) the developing companies need investment – divestment is a way of cutting off the funds needed to carry out these damaging activities. It also sends a powerful signal to the companies and others that it is time to move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. References: [0] http://tinyurl.com/lmskfgk [1] http://tinyurl.com/y9tkm4sn [2] http://tinyurl.com/3e3zv [3] http://tinyurl.com/pqgdd5q [4] http://tinyurl.com/ycspl5sg

  149 of 200 Signatures

  Created by Simon Erskine
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