Dear Lund University Board,

Torbjörn von Schantz, Jonas Hafström, Ann-Katrin Bäcklund, Sven Lidin, Tommy Andersson, Anna Stellinger, Börje Ljunggren, Cecilia Christersson, Mats Svegfors, Sofia Halth, Ulf Ewaldsson, Lars Ljungälv, Omar Khalil, Cecilia Skoug, and Johan Svantesson Sjöberg

We the undersigned, faculty and staff of Lund University, acknowledge the urgency of the scientific community’s warning that the burning of fossil fuels puts society at risk. We thereby support the many students at Lund University who have repeatedly urged the university to divest from assets in fossil fuels.

We invoke three compelling reasons for Lund University to divest from fossil fuels:

  • The overwhelming scientific consensus on future risks for society with unabated climate change
  • The long-term economic risks of fossil fuel assets in a low-carbon future
  • To be true to the ethical foundations of academia and Lund University values

The scientific consensus shows that unabated climate change causes widespread ecological and social calamities. To reduce the risk of unmanageable climate change, there is widespread political agreement in Sweden and beyond, to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this target, about one third of the known oil reserves, half of natural gas reserves, and over 80% of the coal reserves should not be burned.

In economic terms, avoiding dangerous climate change means that many of the assets of the fossil fuel industry will be substantially devalued, leading to stranded assets. Many of these fossil fuel companies are publicly traded and investor-owned, supported in large part by institutional investors, including universities.

There is a strong and rapidly growing trend for many influential investors in Sweden and worldwide to divest from fossil fuels.

Several universities including Stanford University and University of Glasgow have already decided to do so. Chalmers was the first university in Sweden to take this step on January 22, 2015, and Jönköping University College followed. These universities are joined by several major institutional investors, such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund – one of the world’s largest private research funding organizations, built on the dynasty of Standard Oil – and in Sweden the Church of Sweden decided to divest from fossil fuels already in 2009.

The World Council of Churches, representing over 300 churches with a global congregation of 600 million people, decided in July 2014 to follow the example of the Church of Sweden and other ethical investors in divesting. In this context, and as a first step, we welcome the decision of Lund University to sell their shares in Gazprom last summer. Now it is time to make a final move and divest completely from fossil fuels.

Students have twice voiced a clear demand, supported by petitions signed by about 2,000, for the Lund University board to order foundations owned by the university to divest their assets in fossil fuels. The response was an inquiry about Lund University’s investment portfolio and a subsequent decision in November 2014 not to liquidate assets in fossil fuels, with the main argument that only about 1% of the assets are in fossil fuels. To us, this is an argument for divesting immediately, with great gains from little effort.

Finally, in line with Lund University’s mission to be a “world-class university that works to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition” divestment is the right thing to do.

We would also like to stress the important strategic advantage and positive visibility to be gained from a university deciding to divest from fossil fuels. If universities seek to educate extraordinary youth so they may achieve the brightest possible future, what does it mean for that university simultaneously to invest in industries profiting from the destruction of that future?

Therefore, we respectfully ask you and the board to recognize the need for comprehensive and immediate divestment from fossil fuels.

Yours sincerely,

You can add your name to this call – or scroll down to see the list of undersigned staff and faculty at Lund University.

1.     Lennart Olsson Director, LUCSUS
2.     Henrik Smith Director, CEC
3.     Lena Christensen Director of Studies, LUCSUS
4.     Lena Neij Director and Professor, International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
5.     Stefan Lechtenböhmer Director Research GroupFuture Energy and Mobility Structures Wuppertal Institute
6.     Lars J. Nilsson Professor, IMES/LTH
7.     Eric Clark Professor, Department of Human Geography
8.     Alf Hornborg Professor, Human Ecology Division, Lund University
9.     Luis Mundaca Associate Professor, IIIEE
10.  Johanna Alkan Olsson Lecturer, CEC
11.  Claes Nilén LU Byggnad
12.  Vasna Ramasar Postdoctoral researcher, LUCSUS
13.  Anna Kristiansson Communications officer, CEC
14.  David Harnesk PhD Candidate, LUCSUS
15.  David O’Byrne PhD Canditate, LUCSUS
16.  Turaj Faran Professor, LUCSUS
17.  Kimberly Nicholas Assistant Professor, LUCSUS
18. Ann Åkerman Information Officer, LUCSUS
19.  Christine Wamsler Associate Professor, LUCSUS & Societal Resilience Centre
20.  Cheryl Sjöström PhD Candidate, LUCSUS
21.  Anna Kaijser Postdoctoral researcher, LUSCUS
22. Yvonne Persson Director of Studies, Environmental Science, CEC
23.  Anne Jerneck Associate professor, LUCSUS
24.  Henner Busch PhD Candidate, LUCSUS
25.  Sandra Valencia PhD Candidate, LUCSUS
26.  Amanda Elgh Program Coordinator, LUCSUS
27.  Elina Andersson Postdoctoral researcher, LUCSUS
28.  Karin Steen PhD, LUCSUS
29.  Chad Boda PhD Candidate, LUCSUS
30.  Krister Olsson Economist, LUCSUS
31.  Mine Islar Assistant Professor, LUCSUS
32.  Torsten Krause PhD, LUCSUS
33.  Roger Hildingsson Adjunct, Department of Political Science
34.  Johannes Stripple Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
35.  Molly Macgregor PhD Candidate, LUCSUS
36.  Tobias Nielsen PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science
37.  Ina Möller PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science
38.  Terese Göransson PhD Candidate, CEC
39.  Samuel Teeland Research Assistant,  Department of Political Science
40.  Annica Kronsell Professor, Department of Political Science, LUCID
41.  Tullia Jack PhD Candidate, Sociology
42.  Karl McShane PhD Candidate, Economics
43.  Lisa Flower PhD Candidate, Sociology
44.  Anna Welander PhD Candidate, Department of Economics
45.  Iana Kalinichenko Programme Administrator, Department of Human Geography and Human Ecology Division
46.  Ragnheidur Bogadóttir PhD Candidate, Human Ecology Division
47.  Kenneth Hermele PhD Human Ecology, Researcher, LUCSUS
48.  Rikard Warlenius PhD candidate, Human Ecology
49.  Andreas Malm Associate Senior Lecturer, Human Ecology Division
50.  Torbjörn Säll Professor, Genetics, LU
51.  Högni Hansson Programansvarig för miljö- och hälsoskyddMiljövetenskaplig utbildning, CEC
52.  Maria Andrea Nardi PhD/lecturer, Department of Human Geography
53.  Wim Carton PhD candidate, Institutionen för kulturgeografi och ekonomisk geografi
54.  Anders Burman PhD, Associate Senior Lecturer
55.  Jakob Green Werkmäster PhD Student, Department of Philosophy
56.  Elsa Coimbra Lecturer, Department of Human Geography
57.  Ellen Palm Project Assistant
58.  Johanna Olofsson Project Assistant, Environmental and Energy Systems Studies (IMES)
59.  Susanne Söderlund Personnel administrator, IMES
60.  Thomas Prade Post-Doc, IMES, LTH
61.  Salvatore Paolo De Rosa, PhD candidate, Human Geography
62.  Max Koch Professor, Socialhögskolan.
63.  Jamil Khan Associate Professor, Environmental and Energy Systems Studies
64.  Hubert Buch-Hansen Associate professor, Copenhagen Business School
65.  Alexandra Nikoleris PhD student, IMES, LTH
66.  Erin Kennedy PhD CandidateSchool of Social Work
67.  Teis Hansen Associate Senior Lecturer, Department of Human Geography, CIRCLE
68.  Moira Nelson Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Lund University
69.  Sverre Spoelstra Docent, Företagsekonomiska institutionen
70.  Jayeon Lindellee PhD student at School of Social Work (Socialhögskolan)
71.  Annika Pissin Researcher, Center for East and South-East Asian Studies.
72.  Erik Eriksson PhD candidate, School of social work
73.  Ekaterina Chertkovskaya postdoctoral researcher, SEE, School of Economics and Management
74.  Jessika Luth Richter Research Associate/PhD candidate, IIIEE
75.  Håkan Rodhe Associate Professor, IIIEE
76.  Kes McCormick Associate Professor, IIIEE
77.  Thomas Lindhqvist Associate Professor, IIIEE
78.  Jonas Sonnenschein Research Associate/PhD candidate, IIIEE
79.  Alvar Palm Research Associate/PhD candidate, IIIEE
80.  Charlotte Leire Lecturer, IIIEE
81.  Nora Smedby Research Associate/PhD candidate, IIIEE
82.  Yuliya Voytenko PhD, Postdoctoral researcher, IIIEE
83.  Bernadett Kiss Research Associate, IIIEE
84.  Oksana Mont Professor, IIIEE
85.  Peter Arnfalk Associate Professor, IIIEE
86.  Naoko Tojo Associate Professor, IIIEE
87.  Niklas Vareman Post-doc, Medical Ethics
88.  Chia Sui Hsu PhD candidate, Department of Human Geography
89.  Henrik Andersson Doktorand, Filosofiska institutionen
90.  Catia Gregoratti PhD, lecturer, Department of Political Science
91.  Liney Halla Kristinsdottir PhD student, LTH
92.  Åsa Knaggård Senior Lecturer, Dep of Political Science
93.  Martin Magnusson Associate Professor – Solid State Physic
94.  Axel Eriksson PhD-student, LTH
95.  Martin Franckié PhD student, Division of Mathematical Physics
96.  Anders Johansen Senior Lecturer, Astronomy and Theoretical Physics
97.  Sofia Waldemarson Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Immunotechnology, Lund University
98.  Jonathan Seaquist Associate Professor,  Dept. of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
99.  Fariborz Zelli Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
100.  Jan Erik Solem Ass Prof (Univ. lektor), Centre for Mathematical Sciences
101. Stina Balldin PhD-student, School of Social Work
102. Caroline Björnerås PhD student, Aquatic Ecology
103. Paul Miller Universitetslektor, Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap
104. Balathandayuthabani Panneer Selvam PhD student, Faculty of Science
105.  Per Arvidsson Doktorand, Avdelningen för klinisk fysiologi, Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper, Medicinska fakulteten
106. Jan O. Mattsson Professor emeritus, Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap
107. Johan Nord Programmer, Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap
108.  Lars Eklundh Professor, Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap
109. Rosa Aragão Börner Postdoctoral researcher, Division of Biotechnology
110. Kristin Hyltegren PhD student, KILU
111. Erik Ekengard PhD student, Chemical Physics
112. Eva Unger Postdoctoral researcher, Chemical Physics
113. Johan Svantesson Sjöberg PhD student, Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology
114. Charlotta Turner Professor, Department of Chemistry (KILU)
115. Juan Merlo Professor,Head of the Unit for Social Epidemiology, Department for Clinical Sciences Malmö
116. Tom Evans PhD Candidate, Department of Biology
117.  Graeme Cokayne PhD student, LUSEM,School of Economics and Management
118.  Ebba Brink PhD Candidate
119. Ulf Söderlund Professor, Department of Geology
120. Jonas Ardö Associate Professor, Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Sciences
121. Sara Florén Lab Assistant, Department of Geology
122. Andreas Petersson PhD student, Department of Geology
123. Johan Wallerstein Doktorand, Biofysikalisk kemi, LTH
124. Jinliang YUAN Professor, Institutionen för energivetenskaper
125.  Lisa Brand PhD candidate, Energy Sciences
126.  Adam Kristensson PhD, Division of Nuclear Physics, Department of Physics
127.  Eduardo Gill-Pedro Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Law, Lund University
128.  Håkan Jankensgård Assistant professor, Department of Business Administration
129.  Sara Eldén Assistant Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology
130. Bolette Larsen PhD-student, History department.
131. Eva Leire Universitetslektor, Miljö – och energisystem (IMES)
132. Helena Johansson PhD, EHL/AgriFood Economics Centre
133. Oscar Svensson PhD Student, Environmental and Energy Systems Studies (IMES)
134.  Till Koglin Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD in Transport planning, Department of Technology and Society
135. Lars Svensson Professor emeritus, Department of Economic History
136. Karolin Sjöö Post-Doc, Economic History
137.  Per Becker Associate Professor, Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
138. Maria Berghof Doktorand, LTH
139. Anders Warell Professor, Designvetenskaper, LTH
140. Torsten Åkesson Head of the Particle Physics Division
141. Shoshana Iten Programme Coordinator, Graduate School
142. Mimmi Barmark Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
143.  Anton Nilsson Forskare, Centrum för ekonomisk demografi,            Nationalekonomiska institutionen
144.  Martin Nykvist Doctoral student, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
145. Johan Teleman PhD student, Department of Immunotechnology
146. Katrin Molina-Besch PhD student, Department of Design Sciences, Division of Packaging Logistics
147. Anders Arkell PhD Student, Department of Chemical Engineering
148.  Johannes Svensson Researcher, Electrical and Information Technology
149. Karolina Johansson PhD student, Department of Chemical Engineering
150.  Cecilia Curi Borda PhD Student, Food Science, Technology and Nutrition
151. Fredric Bauer PhD student, Department of Chemical Engineering
152. Miguel M. Uamusse PhD Student, Water Resource Engineering
153.  Åke Thidell Assisting Professor, IIIEE
154. Philip Peck Associate Professor, IIIEE
155. John Muhumuza Kakitahi PhD, Department of Construction Sciences
156.  Tobias Linné Universitetslektor, Institutionen för Kommunikation och Medier
157. Etzel Cardeña Thorsen Professor, Psychology
158. Jayne Jönsson Doktorand, företagsekonomi
159. Erik Mårsell PhD student, Department of Physics
160. Joeri H. Wesseling PhD, CIRCLE, LU
161.  Daniel Conley Professor, Department of Geology
162. Angelica Lidén Doktorand, Institutionen för  Bygg- och Miljöteknologi
163. Hanna Alfredsson PhD Student,Department of Geology
164. Belinda Alvarez de Glasby PhD, Researcher (Sponge morphology/Si), Department of Geology
165.  Tove Frykmer PhD student, Div of Risk Management and Societal Safety
166. Phu Doma Lama Phd , Div of Risk Management and Societal Resilience
167. Irina Schmitt Senior lecturer, Department of Gender Studies
168. Ola Jonsson Associate Professor, Department of Human Geography
169. Johanna Stadmark Researcher, Dept. of Geology
170. Hanna Lindbom PhD student, Div of Risk Management and Societal Safety
171. Henrik Hassel Associate professorDivision of Risk Management and Societal SafetyFaculty of Engineering
172. Stefan Tramer Doctoral researcher, School of Economics and Management
173. Alexander Paulsson Lecturer, SEE, School of Economics and Management
174. Anna Pfeiffer Doctoral researcher, School of Economics and Management
175. Veronika V. Tarnovskaya Associate Professor, docent, School of Economics and Management
176. Peter Svensson Associate Professor, Lund School of Economics and Management
177. Peter Bentzer

 

178. Sara Moricz

179. Ozan Aglargöz

 

180. Sofie Yngman

181. Fredrik Pettersson

182.  Florido Paganelli

183. Veronica Polzer

Docent, Institutionen för Kliniska Vetenskaper i Lund, Medicinska Fakulteten

PhD Candidate, EHL

Guest researcher at LUMOS, the School of Economics and Management

 

PhD student, Department of Physics

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Technology and Society, LTH)

Research Engineer, Department of Physics

PhD student, Department of Building & Environmental Technology, Division of Water Resources Engineering

 

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