Swarthmore College will not drop fossil fuel stocks from its $1.9 billion endowment, the school’s board of managers announced on Saturday. The board engaged in “extensive preparation, analysis, and robust discussion and debate” leading up to the decision, Gil Kemp, its chairman, said in a statement.
Norway’s decision to dump all coal-focused investments from its $900bn sovereign wealth fund could unleash a wave of divestment from other large funds, according to investment experts. The fund, the largest in the world, is one of the top 10 investors in the global coal industry.
Edinburgh, UK – In a big step forward for student campaigners, the University of Edinburgh announced today its intention to divest from coal and tar sands within the next six months. read more…
Oxford University, one of the world’s oldest schools, has joined the ranks of British universities shunning investments in carbon-intensive energy projects. Under pressure from some students, the thousand-year-old college has formalized the investment policy for its £2 billion ($3.1 billion) endowment and permanently banned itself from investing in any companies that derive most of their income from coal or oil sands projects, as well as “sectors with high social and environmental risks.”
After seven days at least 40 students are still a central management building in protest at Edinburgh University’s last week that it would not divest its holdings in fossil fuel companies. The occupation was visited today by John Finnie MSP, member of the Scottish Greens, and Director of WWF Scotland Lang Banks.
A Pennsylvania high school just made history. George School in Newtown announced April 27 that it would divest its $150 million endowment of holdings in coal mining companies, likely becoming the first secondary school in the nation to join the global movement to rid investment portfolios of fossil fuel stocks.
Posted: 05/17/2015 12:01:00 AM MDT The University of Colorado, Ivy League Harvard University and small, elite Swarthmore College have at least one thing in common: a decision to hang on to their investments in fossil fuel companies. Meanwhile about 100 universities and foundations, including Stanford University and Syracuse University, have committed to divest all or part of their fossil fuel investments.
Five years ago Swarthmore Mountain Justice was formed by Swarthmore College students as a way to halt destructive climate change by advocating for the college’s board of managers to divest Swarthmore’s $1.9 billion endowment of fossil fuel funds.
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty The fossil-fuel divestment movement has divided academia. On 24 April, SOAS University of London announced that it would sell off all of its investments in fossil-fuel companies within three years. Days later, the New York University (NYU) senate voted to recommend that the university keep its current fossil-fuel investments, but to develop a greener strategy for the future.
The Church of England’s governing body has thrown its weight behind efforts to slow climate change by backing the move earlier this year to divest its resources from from companies involved in extracting two of the most polluting fossil fuels.