University
court votes to divest £18m from fossil fuel industry in what campaigners call
‘dramatic beachhead’
theguardian.com,
Libby Brooks, Wednesday 8 October 2014
Glasgow University has become the first academic institution in Europe to divest from the fossil fuel industry, in a turning point for the British arm of the student-led global divestment movement.
Glasgow University students hold a silent protest to raise awareness of the divestment from fossil fuels campaign. Photograph: Courtesy People & Planet |
Glasgow University has become the first academic institution in Europe to divest from the fossil fuel industry, in a turning point for the British arm of the student-led global divestment movement.
After 12
months of campaigning, led by the Glasgow University Climate Action Society and
involving over 1,300 students, the university court this afternoon voted to
begin divesting £18m from the fossil fuel industry and freeze new investments
across its entire endowment of £128m.
Describing
the result as “a dramatic beachhead for the divestment movement”, American
environmentalist Bill McKibben said that it sent a powerful signal that Europe
would be “just as powerful in this fight as Australia and North America”.
The founder
of climate campaign group 350.org added: “That it comes from Glasgow, which has
as much claim to birthing the industrial revolution as any city on Earth, makes
it that much more special. Everyone from the Rockefellers on down is realising
it’s time to move on.”
As of last
month, more than 800 global investors – including foundations such as the
Rockefeller Brothers, religious groups, healthcare organisations, universities
and local governments – have pledged to withdraw a total of $50bn (£31bn) from
fossil fuel investments over the next five years as a result of the campaign
which began on college campuses in the United States three years ago.
Writer and
activist Naomi Klein said that Glasgow University had joined “a fast growing
global movement providing much-needed hope to the prospect of climate action.”
“Students
around the world are making it clear that the institutions entrusted to prepare
them for the future cannot simultaneously bet against their future by profiting
from corporations that plan to burn many times more carbon than our atmosphere
can safely absorb,” said Klein.
“They are
sending an unequivocal message that fossil fuel profits are illegitimate – on
par with tobacco and arms profits – and that brings us a significant step
closer to demanding that our politicians sever ties with this rogue industry
and implement bold climate policies based on a clear, progressive ‘polluter
pays’ principle.’”
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