Oil, gas, and tar sands companies have been banned from recruiting at Swansea University, following an 18-month campaign by students and staff. As part of a new Ethical Careers Policy implemented by the University, oil, gas, and tar sands companies will be unable to access careers fairs and employer events organised by the university careers service, and the university will no longer advertise roles in those industries to students.

Today Robert Gordon University becomes the 103rd UK university to divest from fossil fuels, and the second to do so in Aberdeen, a city known as the ‘Oil Capital of Europe’ due to its links with North Sea oil and gas.

In a highly significant move, the university announced its commitment to exclude fossil fuel extraction companies from all its investments by updating its Investment Policy. This follows the University of Aberdeen’s commitment to divest from all fossil fuels in 2021.

Today Plymouth Marjon University has announced its divestment from fossil fuels, updating their Ethical Investment Policy to exclude all fossil fuel investments from their portfolio. This move also forms part of Plymouth Marjon University’s larger sustainability strategy. 

Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) has become the fourth university in the UK to exclude oil, gas, and mining companies from recruiting on campus. The Lincoln-based university  joins the University of Bedfordshire, the University of the Arts London, and Wrexham Glyndwr University, who all ended recruitment ties with the fossil fuel industry in December 2022.