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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELSFossil 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.pdf2,401 of 3,000 SignaturesCreated by Zero Carbon Cambridge
Divest Brent Council from Fossil FuelsWe 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/ycspl5sg359 of 400 SignaturesCreated by Simon Erskine
Divest Norfolk Pension Fund from Fossil FuelsThere is strong evidence (1) that the impact on climate change of burning even the known reserves of fossil fuels will create an unsustainable environment for the generations to come, and untold suffering to countless living beings. This fact will impact negatively on the value of investments in the industries concerned with fossil fuel extraction. Using just the fossil fuel reserves listed on the world’s stock markets would be enough to take us beyond 2°C of global warming (2). This means that more than 80 per cent of the world's known coal reserves, 30 per cent of known oil and 50 per cent of gas reserves need to stay in the ground and drilling in the Arctic is out of the question if we're to stay below two degrees. Recent drops in the oil price add to the uncertainty surrounding fossil fuels and the financial viability of some extractions presenting opportunities to lessen our dependency on fossil fuels (3). In defiance of mainstream research evidence and international policy (4), fossil fuel companies continue to extract and burn as much carbon as possible to maximise their profits. Despite the very high probability of planetary disaster they show no intention of switching away from their core business model. Our local council has a responsibility to divest from an industry that’s destroying the very future for ourselves and for our children that personal investment in a pension seeks to enhance. Instead it should reinvest in solutions to climate change. We won’t see any political progress on climate change until we can weaken the power of the fossil fuel industry. Divestment for fossil fuel investments would also minimise the council's exposure to the financial risk of the 'carbon bubble', whereby shareholders risk being left with stranded assets (worthless fuel stocks that regulation will prevent from being burned). It is a paradox that pension funds providing income for the future should at the same time be investing in the fossil fuel industry which if left to its own devices will exploit more of the fossil fuel reserves than we can safely use! Institutions around the world including local government, universities and churches are pulling out of fossil fuel investments and moving towards a clean energy future (5) It's time to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy now for inescapable moral and economic reasons. Shareholders (including pension funds) have started to challenge Exxon, Shell and BP to show how their business model is compatible with a 2 degree temperature rise (6). Some argue that engaging with fossil fuel companies is a more effective tactic than divestment. But Jonathon Porritt, one of the UK’s most esteemed environmentalists who spent years working on sustainability projects with BP and Shell, earlier this year said engagement was now futile because “hydrocarbon supremacists” at the companies had successfully ousted reformers wanting to diversify into green energy. Divestment, therefore, seems to be an unavoidable step to halting the damage and suffering which will ensue unless timely action is taken. 1 http://350.org/about/science/ 2 http://math.350.org/ 3 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530043.100-over-a-barrel-falling-oil-prices-and-the-environment.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029415.700-an-oil-crash-is-on-its-way-and-we-should-be-ready.html#.VNI0c9kgGc0 4 http://www.ipcc.ch/ 5 http://zerocarbonbritain.org/index.php/zcb-latest-report 6 http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/21/bp-challenged-confront-climate-change-risk-by-shareholders Thanks to Holly from the campaign to divest Avon pension fund for letting us use their text.353 of 400 SignaturesCreated by Matthew White
Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Go Fossil Free!As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on Southern Illinois University Carbondale 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 Southern Illinois University Carbondale 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.654 of 800 SignaturesCreated by Patricia Walker
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.1,016 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by LSU Ethics and Environment
Malmö University: Divest from fossil fuelsFör 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.se44 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Fenix Miljöförening- Alumni Call for Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, to Divest from Fossil FuelsInvestments 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.2 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Julia Peck
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=6630411721,514 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Sciences Po Zéro Fossile
Calling On Falmouth University To Commit To Never Invest In Fossil FuelsAt 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!15 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Conor Cowden- San Francisco State University: 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 San Francisco State University 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 SF State 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.51 of 100 SignaturesCreated by Andrew Hayes