Edinburg, UK – On Monday 11th May, the University of Edinburgh is due to make a final decision on divesting from fossil fuels. The University of Edinburgh has the third largest university endowment in the UK, after Oxford and Cambridge, totalling £291 million. It invests approximately £9 million in fossil fuel companies including BP, Shell and BHP Billiton. In the UK, the University of Glasgow, University of Bedfordshire, and the University of London SOAS have all committed to divest, making an international total of 28 universities moving their money out of fossil fuels.
The decision will be made in the afternoon at a meeting of the University Court – the highest decision-making body in the university. The meeting could see the university divesting from companies involved in the extraction of coal and tar sands, following a recommendation from the university’s Central Management Group in April. This is a result of a three-year campaign by the Edinburgh People & Planet student group, supported by the Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA).
Kirsty Haigh, student campaigner with Edinburgh People & Planet, said: “If Edinburgh decides to divest on Monday, it will send an important signal to other universities in Scotland and across the UK that investing in this rogue industry is morally unjustifiable. The university needs to listen to the voices of its students, academics and alumni who are demanding it takes this vital action on climate change.”
The campaign at Edinburgh has gathered widespread support from across the community, with backing from over 50 university academics and the Edinburgh University Students Association. Students, alumni and faculty staff will demonstrate on campus on Monday to demand that the university divests fully from the world’s top 200 fossil fuel companies.
Who: Students, alumni and faculty members supporting the divestment campaign; campaign leaders and spokespeople.
What: Students will demonstrate with banners and placards, whilst academics, alumni and student campaigners address the crowd.
Where: Old College,The University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, City of Edinburgh, EH8 9YL
When: 1pm – 2pm
Why: Edinburgh University is due to make a final decision on divesting from the fossil fuel industry. This demonstration is to pressure the university to divest fully from the world’s top 200 fossil fuel companies which are driving climate change and blocking clean energy solutions.
The People & Planet student network have joined a global campaign to push universities to divest from the 200 fossil fuel companies that hold the vast majority of the world’s oil, coal and gas reserves, arguing that the fossil fuel industry is a rogue industry which is driving climate change and blocking clean energy solutions.
For more information, please visit:
http://peopleandplanet.org/fossil-free
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CONTACT
Miriam Wilson. Fossil Free Campaign Coordinator, People & Planet
Email: fossilfree@peopleandplanet.org
Phone: 01865 264 180
Spokesperson: Kirsty Haigh, Edinburgh student campaigner and NUS Scotland VP Communities
Email: kirsty.haigh@nus-scotland.org.uk
Phone: 07950 671772
NOTES TO EDITOR
- People & Planet – Britain’s largest student network campaigning on environmental justice and human rights coordinates the UK university fossil fuel divestment movement. http://peopleandplanet.org/fossil-free
- UK universities invest an estimated £5.2 billion annually in the fossil fuel industry (Knowledge and Power, 2013). See a full list of all the institutions that have divested. https://gofossilfree.org/commitments/
- Information on the growth of the divestment movement can be found in Measuring the Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement (2014) by Arabella Advisors. http://www.arabellaadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Measuring-the-Global-Divestment-Movement.pdf
- More information on the Edinburgh University campaign so far can be found at their website. https://investethically.wordpress.com/