Over half of all UK universities have committed to divest from fossil fuels, and participate in the just transition to a low-carbon world. This is a historic day for the student movement - check out the announcement press release below.
People & Planet, the National Union of Students and Students Organising for Sustainability UK have announced that over half of the UK�s 154 public universities have committed to divest from fossil fuels since the campaign began in 2012. University of York became the 77th university to divest from all fossil fuels in October 2019, followed by Leeds Trinity University becoming the 78th upon signing the Fossil Free Declaration.
21 of the UK�s 24 research-intensive Russell Group universities have divested while 10 of the 14 �Former 94 Group� have also made the commitment. Proportionally less of newer �post-1992� universities comprise the divested institutions with 33 of 78 making a commitment to exclude fossil fuels. University of Glasgow was the first UK university to divest in October 2014 following a student-led campaign.
People & Planet research shows that �12.4bn of endowments across the higher education sector have been divested, in large part due to the divestment of large investment portfolios of University of Edinburgh and the partial divestments of Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Both Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are included in the list of divested institutions due to their commitments to remove direct investments from coal and tar sands companies. However, both are subject to high-profile student campaigns to remove all fossil fuel investments, including through external fund managers. On top of the 78 divested universities, 7 Oxbridge colleges have divested the funds they directly control due to student lobbying.
Chris Saltmarsh, Co-Director: Climate Change Campaigns at People & Planet, said:
�Wildfires are wreaking destruction across Australia, the Amazon and beyond while fossil fuel companies profit from the extraction to blame for this devastation. Excluding this industry from our universities is now a mainstream and majority position. Universities not yet divested can now choose to stand with their students on the right side of history or be forever known as complicit in the crimes of climate breakdown.�
Around 30 universities do not currently have an investment portfolio. In those cases, institutions can sign People & Planet and National Union of Students� Fossil Free Declaration affirming that they have no investments in fossil fuels and commit to never making any. 14 universities have signed the declaration.
In 2012, students in the People & Planet student activist network began campaigning for their universities to stop investing in fossil fuel companies following a call to action by academic and campaigner Bill McKibben. Campaigns began at the University of Manchester, University of East Anglia and University College London. Since then there have been student-led campaigns on over 100 campuses in the UK, with NUS National Conference voting to support the campaign in 2015. Currently there are at least 30 active divestment campaigns.
The divestment campaign aims to use the investment portfolios of reputable public institutions � like universities � to stigmatise the fossil fuel industry which campaigners say profits from the carbon-intensive activities driving climate breakdown.
Camilla Zerr, Chair of Sheffield People & Planet during the group�s successful divestment campaign (2013-2016), said:
�Being part of Sheffield University�s divestment campaign was by far the most exciting, character-building and empowering experience I had as a student. It shaped my world-view and career choices. Since then, councils, the UK Parliament, international investment funds, and more have also made fossil-free commitments: it�s amazing to be involved in this powerful movement as it continues to grow.�
Zamzam Ibrahim, NUS National President and founding Trustee of Students Organising for Sustainability, UK said:
�Today the student movement has made history with the announcement that over half of UK universities have committed to divest from fossil fuel companies. Since 2012, students have campaigned with the support of People & Planet, National Union of Students (NUS) and Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK) to marginalise companies like Shell and BP as they profit from climate breakdown.
The campaign has displayed the power of students taking collective action together. We have reached this tipping point due to years of hard work and strategic organising by students, often working alongside staff, alumni and members of local communities.
The 50% mark was reached as the University of York became the 77th UK university to divest. Despite growing declarations of climate emergency, there are still the 50% of UK universities who remain invested in the principle profiteers of the climate crisis. At a time when Australia burns in the bushfire crisis and climate deniers remain in positions of power across the globe, this lack of action is unforgivable.�
Campaigns have included a range of campaign tactics from petitions gathering thousands of signatories, lobbying university management, political education, creative actions and non-violent direct actions including occupying university buildings and hunger strikes.