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Colleges & Universities

  • Make the University of Leeds Fossil Free!
    To put the University of Leeds at the forefront of the global movement to reject our reliance on fossil fuels. To follow the successful example of the University of Glasgow, who have recently achieved a divestment policy. To achieve transparency, so that students (current and prospective) know where their money is going, and all members of the University know its position on environmental issues. From 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. For more information: http://peopleandplanet.org/fossil-free http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/08/glasgow-becomes-first-university-in-europe-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels https://www.facebook.com/groups/pandpleeds/?fref=ts https://www.leeds.ac.uk/secretariat/documents/socially_responsible_investment.pdf
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    Created by Edie Boon
  • Fossil Free Liverpool University
    Climate Change is an issue which will disrupt our entire planet's weather and ecosystems if we allow it to happen. The effects on society will be drastic and chaotic leading to increased disease, famine, poverty, migration. We want our university be a bold leader in the fight against Climate Change and the transition to a sustainable and fairer society. The failure of the industry and global leaders over the past decades to enact meaningful change has forced the need for progressive action: divestment. The university is a leading researcher in areas of sustainable energy, environment, climate, health, food security and conflict. We want the university to have consistent values in its activities, that it will not endorse or profit from these highly unethical companies. The status quo isn't working and the transition to sustainability is inevitable so let us be bold, let us be positive, let us act on the right side of history and usher in a new better era. Divesting from these companies frees up capital to reinvest in our new technologies, industries and economies for a secure and sustainable future.
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    Created by Fossil Free Liverpool University
  • Stop University of Derby investing £1,579,677 in Fossil fuel industries
    Fossil Fuels have a devastating negative effect on the environment, as the production and the consumption contributes significantly to global climate change. They are responsible for the increasing amount of harmful chemicals such as carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. We should be investing in renewable energy sources rather than directly supporting and funding corporations such as British Petroleum (BP), who are accountable for environmental disasters such The Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. As an institute of Higher education how can we publicly support such corporations that attempt to green wash the facts?
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    Created by Saskia Taylor- Doyle
  • 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
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    Created by Zero Carbon Cambridge Picture
  • Divest Aberystwyth University from fossil fuels
    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! 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.
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    Created by James Pickerin
  • Swansea University: Divest from Fossil Fuels!
    The world in which the students of Swansea University are to graduate into is currently threatened by the reality of climate change. Already the world is suffering the effects of 1°C rise in global average temperatures. Last year, Arctic sea-ice cover had retreated to its lowest levels since the beginning of satellite records, and the average global sea level was 1.4in above the 1993-2010 average. The world is experiencing more severe draught, wildfires and flooding, which impact the world's poorest most severely; the World Health Organisation estimates that climate change is causing at least 140,000 deaths per year. The fossil fuel industry is unequivocally driving us towards a global climate crisis, and we will not keep dangerous climate change at bay without halting our extraction of fossil-fuels. The university has both a moral and a financial duty to its students to withdraw its investments from the fossil fuel industry. The moral case is clear: if it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. Furthermore, fossil fuels are a dangerous investment. The value of companies like Shell, BP and Chevron is based on the assumption that they will be able to dig up and sell their fossil fuel reserves. But if the world gets serious about stopping climate change, that would mean keeping 80% of proven fossil fuel reserves in the ground, and the assumption that forms the basis for these companies' value will be undermined. We call on Swansea University to lead the way on this issue, and protect the future of its students by divesting from the fossil fuel industry now.
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    Created by Swansea People and Planet
  • Make Cardiff University Divest From Fossil Fuels!
    From a Freedom of Information request, we learned that Cardiff University currently invests around two million pounds of its total endowment funds in the Fossil Fuel industry (Shell, BG Group, BHP Billiton etc). Divesting from this industry will withdraw moral support from the Fossil Fuel industry and show Cardiff University's support for a more sustainable future. Cardiff University has already divested from the Arms and Tobacco industry, and it has a number of world leading researchers working in sustainability. The Fossil Fuel industry has a disproportionate influence on government policy and independent institutions like universities through lobbying and funding. As Climate Change has been verified by 97% of climate scientists, (according to a recent IPCC report) it is essential to begin cutting political and economic ties with this industry, so that the democratic process has a chance to avert the catastrophe which we are heading towards. We are not powerless in the struggle to protect our planet from uncontrollable climate chaos, and we can use divestment as a way to send a strong political message through our institutions- including Cardiff University.
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    Created by Jack Pickering
  • Divest the University of Bath from the Fossil Fuel Industry
    The world has committed to keeping global warming below 2 degrees. To achieve this, over 80% of the proven fossil fuel reserves will have to stay in the ground (1) - we simply cannot afford to continue to invest in this industry. However, the arguments against fossil fuel investments are not just environmental. Economically, it is clearly unsustainable to rely on non-renewable resources. The price of oil is already volatile and is a significant source of financial risk (2) whereas, in contrast, low-carbon investments are becoming increasingly profitable (3). Divestment is a proven, powerful tool for people to collaborate and directly effect large scale change. It was, for example, a key strategy in the ending of South African apartheid and the stigmatisation of the tobacco industry, and will be a key player in the global transition to sustainable energy sources. The University of Bath has fossil fuel holdings totalling half a million pounds including over £100,000 in Shell alone (4). Our call is for the university to divest these holdings and publicly commit to never investing in them again. The activities of these companies are completely incompatible with the university’s own mission (5) and is at odds with much of the work on campus, from the research at the CSCT (6) and the IPR (7) to the discussions at the I-SEE (8). The campaign here at Bath is part of the wider Fossil Free movement – an accumulation of grassroots campaigns at a diverse range of respected institutions around the world, from Le Louvre museum in Paris to the University of Cambridge here in the UK. A quarter of universities in the UK have already committed to divesting, and Bath should be proud to join their ranks. Many of these forward-thinking universities had far more invested (9), so what we are demanding is not out of reach. The wider statement that the University of Bath will make when it divests will be significant and will extend far beyond the removal of the raw finances. In divesting from fossil fuels, the University will be: - Showing solidarity with communities already bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change, most of whom have contributed little to the problem; - Helping to reclaim our democracy from the power of fossil fuel lobbying groups (10); - Contributing to the stigmatisation of the fossil fuel industry: “the most far-reaching threat to fossil fuel companies” (11); - Influencing public discourse on climate change: leading the way for other UK universities and policy makers, too. It is time for the University of Bath to realise how incompatible a safe climate future is with these fossil fuel relationships, and to take meaningful action to go fossil free. This petition for a Fossil Free Bath complements Bath SU policy (12) voted through by 60% of students in early 2016. References (1) http://math.350.org/ (2) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/bank-of-england-warns-of-financial-risk-from-fossil-fuel-investments (3) https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/13/renewable-energy-investment-fossil-fuel-divestment-investor-summit-climate-change (4) FOI (5) http://www.bath.ac.uk/about/values/ethics/code-of-ethics.html (6) http://www.bath.ac.uk/csct/research/energy-water.html (7) http://www.bath.ac.uk/ipr/policy-briefs/reports/climate-change.html (8) http://www.bath.ac.uk/i-see/ (9) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/08/glasgow-becomes-first-university-in-europe-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels (10) http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-industry-influence-in-the-u-s/ (11) http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research-programmes/stranded-assets/SAP-divestment-report-final.pdf (12) https://www.bathstudent.com/pageassets/policy-governance/2015-16-4-Fossil-Free-Bath.pdf
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  • UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI: GO FOSSIL FREE!
    Miksi tämä on tärkeää? Yliopistoilla on moraalinen vastuu yhteiskunnan korkeimman tiedon lähteinä hyödyntää omassa toiminnassaan parasta olemassa olevaa tietoa. Tiedeyhteisön yhteisymmärrys on kiistaton. Emme voi polttaa edes puolta maailmanlaajuisista fossiilisten polttoaineiden tunnetuista varannoista aiheuttamatta tuhoisaa ilmaston lämpenemistä. [3][4][5][6][7] Ilmastotieteilijät ovat yhtä mieltä siitä, että fossiilisten polttoaineiden käyttö on suurin yksittäinen syy antropogeeniseen eli ihmisen toiminnan aiheuttamaan ilmastonmuutokseen, joka aiheuttaa äärimmäisen vakavia ekologisia ja sosiaalisia katastrofeja [3][4]. Helsingin yliopiston tulisi johtaa omalla esimerkillään ilmastonmuutoksen hillitsemistä harjoittamalla entistä kestävämpää sijoitustoimintaa niin ympäristön kuin taloudenkin kannalta. Hiilikuplalla tarkoitetaan fossiilisia polttoaineita tuottaviin yhtiöihin liittyvää taloudellista riskiä, joka johtuu alihintaisten kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen aiheuttamasta markkinahäiriöstä. Hiilikupla on saanut useita sijoittajia vetämään sijoituksensa pois näistä yhtiöistä. [8][9][10] Yliopiston sitoutuminen fossiilisten polttoaineiden tuottajista vapaaseen sijoitusstrategiaan olisi vahva signaali yliopiston henkilökunnalle ja opiskelijoille siitä, että yliopiston johto tunnustaa tieteellisen tutkimustyön tulokset ja pyrkii periaatteidensa mukaisesti kehittämään yliopiston toimintaa entistä kestävämmäksi. [11] Helsingin yliopisto pyrkii saamaan sijoitussalkkunsa hiilineutraaleiksi “huomattavasti ennen vuotta 2045” [12]. Fossiiliteollisuuteen tehdyistä sijoituksista luopuminen on yksi askel yliopiston matkalla kohti tuota tavoitetta. Yliopiston pyrkimyksenä onkin rajata fossiilisia polttoaineita tuottavien yhtiöiden osuus sijoitussalkuistaan korkeintaan 1 %:iin, ja käytännössä vähentää niiden osuutta senkin jälkeen [11]. Ilmastotoimien kiireellisyydestä huolimatta sijoituksista luopumiselle ei kuitenkaan ole asetettu selkeää aikarajaa. Yliopisto ei myöskään ole sitoutunut olemaan sijoittamatta fossiilisia polttoaineita tuottaviin yrityksiin tulevaisuudessa. Yhteiskunta tarvitsee edelläkävijöitä, jotka luovat uuden normaalin ja motivoivat muita osallistumaan uusien parhaiden käytäntöjen omaksumiseen. ------------------------------------------------------ Why is this important? Universities have the moral responsibility to act according to the leading sources of scientific research and education in a society. The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming; we cannot safely burn even half of the world's fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years. [3][4][5][6][7] Scientists agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify tragic climate disasters [3][4]. The University of Helsinki should take the lead in confronting climate change by promoting sustainable and financially sound asset management practices. Carbon bubble is a term used to describe the financial risk related to companies holding fossil fuel reserves as governments move to fix the market failure caused by uncontrolled carbon emissions. [8][9][10] Divestment would send a strong signal to the University's staff as well as current and future students, that the University will take action for a sustainable future, as stated in the principles for responsible investment activities [11]. The University of Helsinki is aiming for a carbon-neutral investment portfolio well before the year 2045 [12]. Divestment from the fossil fuel industry is one of the University’s steps towards this goal. The University is aiming for a portfolio where firms that produce fossil fuels comprise no more than 1% of the investment portfolio, and aims to reduce their weight in the portfolio further after that [11]. However, despite the time-critical nature of the climate crisis, no time limit has been set for divestment. The University has not committed to refrain from future investment into firms that produce fossil fuels. Society as a whole needs leadership from organisations that shape the future and motivate others to join and implement best practices. [1] http://gofossilfree.org/companies/ [2] https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/yliopisto/strategia-ja-johtaminen/strategia-2017-2020 [3] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/ [4] https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ [5] http://carbontracker.live.kiln.it/index.html?CMP=twt_gu [6] http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus [7] http://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/ [8] https://gofossilfree.org/divestment/commitments/ [9] http://www.carbontracker.org/report/carbon-bubble/ [10] https://www.divestinvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Carbon-Tracker.-Unburnable-Carbon-Full-rev2-1.pdf [11] Suomeksi: https://www.helsinki.fi/sites/default/files/atoms/files/hy_vastuullisen_sijoitustoiminnan_periaatteet.pdf In English: https://www.helsinki.fi/sites/default/files/atoms/files/hu_principles_for_responsible_investment_activities.pdf [12] Suomeksi: https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/uutiset/kestava-kehitys/helsingin-yliopisto-sijoittaa-entista-vastuullisemmin-tavoitteena-hiilineutraali-salkku?fbclid=IwAR0Uq_fegJ1SO_cdBOCQII0GR4KAHvSvTzDtUk_M9tte-m8ersZ9rKmsfzA In English: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/sustainability-news/increasingly-responsible-investments-by-the-university-of-helsinki-aiming-for-a-carbon-neutral-portfolio [13] https://riihiweb.it.helsinki.fi/document/public/ebac9c93-9179-4f3d-8639-7293baa25864
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    Created by Lotta Närhi
  • Colorado College: Go Fossil Free!
    Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently; in this last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Hurricane Sandy alone caused $50bn in damages. 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. As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on the Colorado College 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 Colorado College 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.
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    Created by Alex Suber