UNIVERSITIES COMMITTED TO PURSUING FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT

So far 116 UK universities and 2 Irish have committed to divest from fossil fuels in some form. These commitments cover endowment wealth of over £17.7bn.

Full divestment means divestment from all fossil fuel extractor company holdings. Partial divestment means divestment from only some fossil fuel extractor company holdings - usually those involved with the extraction of coal and tar sands.

October 2014 – The University of Glasgow commits to fully divest £18mil from fossil fuel companies over the next 10 years.
January 2015 – The University of Bedfordshire puts in policy to not invest in any fossil fuel companies.
March 2015 - SOAS, University of London commits to fully divest £1mil from fossil fuel companies over the next 3 years and the Vice-Chancellor calls on other universities to divest.
April 2015 - Queen Margaret University commits to fully divest it’s £45mil endowment from all fossil full companies.
May 2015 – The University of Oxford campaign gets a partial victory with the announcement that they don’t directly invest in coal and tar-sands as it is unethical. There are two more victories this month too: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine commits to divest from coal companies. The University of Edinburgh commits to divest from coal and tar-sands companies in the next 6 months after a high profile student occupation in response to an initial decision to engage rather than divest.
August 2015 - The University of Warwick commits to fully divest £1mil from fossil fuel companies over the next year.
October 2015 – Three victories with University of the Arts London fully divesting it’s £3.9mil from fossil fuels, the University of Surrey committing to fully divest it’s £42mil endowment from all fossil fuels and Oxford Brookes University committing to fully divest it’s £1.6mil endowment from fossil fuels. Research conducted with NUS also uncovered that the University of Westminster had divested from coal and tar-sands by investing with divested CCLA.
November 2015 – Two victories with the University of Sheffield committing to fully divest it’s £40mil endowment from fossil fuels and the London School of Economics committing to divest it’s £97.2mil endowment from coal and tar-sands. Both committed to reinvest in renewables.
January 2016 – Sheffield Hallam University committed to not invest it’s £0.5mil endowment in fossil fuels.
May 2016 - Three more victories with Southampton University and Newcastle University committing to divest from coal and tar-sands, while Queen Mary University London committed to fully divest it’s endowment. Their combined endowment wealth is £100mil.
June 2016 - The University of Cambridge commits to 'blocklist' coal and tar-sands from it’s £5.9bil endowment. Falling short of a solid policy commitment to never invest in these sectors again.
September 2016 - Kings College London commits to divest it's £160mil endowment from coal and tar-sands.
November 2016 - Research by People & Planet for our University League uncovered that 14 more universities had committed to divest in the last 12 months. Ten of these were commitments to divest: Nottingham Trent, Kent, Lincoln, Wales Trinity Saint David, Abertay Dundee, Worcester, Arts Bournemouth, Cardiff Met, Bournemouth and Manchester Met.In the same month the University of the West of Scotland also committed to fully divest it's endowment. Their combined endowment wealth was £46.5mil.
February 2017 - The University of St Andrews divest it's £50mil endowment fully from fossil fuels.
March 2017 - The University of Bristol commits to divest it's £58mil endowment and Kings College London up it's commitment to divest it's £160mil endowment from all fossil fuels rather than just coal and tar-sands. In Ireland NUI Gallway commits to fully divest £3mil out of fossil fuel companies.
May 2017 - Queen's University Belfast announces full divestment of it's £52 million endowment, making it the first university in Northern Ireland to go Fossil Free.
August 2017 - 9 universities sign the Fossil Free Declaration and commit to never investing in fossil fuel companies: Canterbury Christ Church University, Newman University, University of Chester, University of the Creative Arts, University of Cumbria, University of Winchester, Wrexham Glyndŵr University, Writtle University College and York St John University.
October 2017 - Research for People & Planet's University League reveals Glasgow Caledonian University fully excludes and London Metropolitan University partially excludes fossil fuel companies. These commitments are enshrined in their investment policies.
November 2017 - The University of East Anglia releases a statement confirming they hold no investments from their £8,897,939 endowment in fossil fuel companies, after a four year campaign by students at UEA People & Planet.
January 2018 - The University of Huddersfield confirmed to student campaigners at Fossil Free Huddersfield University and the local press that they hold no investments in fossil fuel companies and have no plan to.
February 2018 - The University of Sussex now invests its money in Liontrust’s ‘Sustainable Futures Managed Fund’ that excludes investments in the Fossil Fuel industry after a four year long student campaign. The University of Edinburgh divests its £322million endowment from all fossil fuels over two and a half years after its partial divestment following a prolonged student campaign.
March 2018 - Anglia Ruskin University signed the Fossil Free Declaration confirming they have no investments in the fossil fuel industry and they never will. This came after a student campaign. Durham University divested fully after several years of campaigning by generations of Durham University People & Planet. The University of Bristol fully divested around one year after their partial divestment following sustained student pressure. Cardiff University committed to divest its entire investment portfolio by 2021. This came after Cardiff People & Planet's long-running campaign culminating in an escalation strategy including a hunger strike by two campaign members.
April 2018 - The University of Nottingham pledged divested its £50million endowment fund from oil and gas within 12 months, withdrawing from coal and tar sands immediately.
May 2018 - The University of Bath committed to fully divest from fossil fuels. The University of Gloucestershire also committed to fully divest with immediate effect.
June 2018 - Buckinghamshire New University became the eleventh university to sign the Fossil Free Declaration. They confirmed they had no investments in fossil fuel companies and said they never will.
July 2018 - The University of Leeds confirmed they had divested companies deriving more than 5% of their revenue from coal and tar sands, pledging to make a decision on full divestment by the end of November 2018. Loughborough University committed to divest from all fossil fuels within three years. Northumbria University declared that they do not, and will not, invest in fossil fuel companies.
November 2018 - The University of Liverpool announced their partial divestment of coal and tar sands.
January 2019 - Keele University made a commitment to divest from all fossil fuels.
February 2019 - The University of Essex made it policy to not invest in companies deriving more than 10% of turnover from fossil fuel extraction. The University of Exeter updated their ethical investment policy to include divestment from coal and tar sands. The University of Ulster updated its ethical investment policy to exclude oil, coal and tar sands companies.
March 2019 - The University of Stirling committed to divest from fossil fuels after a campaign from Stirling Students' Union. Swansea University committed to cease investing in fossil fuels within 12 months.
August 2019 - Goldsmiths University, University of Liverpool and Ulster University all updated their divestment commitments to exclude all fossil fuels having previously had only partial commitments.
October 2019 - The University of York and University College London announced their commitment to divest from all fossil fuels, following two exemplar campaigns led by students.
November 2019 - Leeds Trinity University joins the list of UK universities to sign the Fossil Free Declaration, and Newcastle University extends its partial commitment to all fossil fuels.
January 2020 - Aberystwyth University becomes the first university to commit to full divestment in the new decade.
February 2020 - The University of Reading extends its commitment and divests from all fossil fuel companies.
April 2020 - Southampton Solent University commits to never have investments in fossil fuels.
May 2020 - The University of Roehampton rules out fossil fuel companies in its investment policy, together with arms, tobacco, alcohol and gambling companies. The University of Manchester committed to divest all its investments in fossil fuels by 2022, following a long, hard fought campaign by the People & Planet group on their campus. And finally, Bangor University signs the Fossil Free Declaration, declaring that it does not, and never will, have investments in fossil fuels.
October 2020 - The University of Cambridge starts its new academic year with the right foot, by divesting its £3.5bn endowment from all fossil fuels.
November 2020 - The University of Dundee commits to fully divesting its £25m endowment fund from fossil fuels.
December 2020 - Aston University makes the right choice and pledges to divest from fossil fuel companies. Bath Spa University signs the Fossil Free Declaration, stating that it does not invest in the fossil fuel industry, and ruling out any future investments.
February 2021 - The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine fully divests from fossil fuels, citing both moral and health concerns related to the climate crisis.
March 2021 - The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine becomes the sixth (of seventeen) University of London member institutions to exclude all fossil fuel extractor companies from their investments. This commitment to full divestment built upon their 2015 partial divestment from coal companies. In the same week (!) the University of Brighton rejects all fossil fuels by becoming the 17th signatory to the Fossil Free Declaration.
April 2021 - The University of Suffolk affirms their fossil free status and commits to never invest in fossil fuel companies in the future by becoming the 18th university to sign the Fossil Free Declaration.
June 2021 - in the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow Edinburgh Napier University fully divests from fossil fuels.
July 2021 - St Mary's University, Twickenham rejects fossil fuels by signing the Fossil Free Declaration.
September 2021 - as we inch ever closer to COP26 the University of Aberdeen's full fossil fuel divestment commitment is hailed as a significant victory given it's location in a city known as Europe's oil and gas capital. The announcement follows an 8-year long student campaign.
October 2021 - four days before COP26 begins the Open University commits to divest from all fossil fuel companies.
November 2021 - during COP26 Lancaster University announces the removal of investments from fossil fuel companies. They also commit to excluding the arms trade and tobacco companies. This follows a strong 7-year long student and staff campaign.
December 2021 - University League research reveals that Imperial College London has excluded coal and tar sands company investments in a partial commitment to the Fossil Free campaign.
January 2022 - the University of the West of England becomes the first UK university to make a Fossil Free commitment in 2022, by adding their name to the Fossil Free Declaration.
February 2022 - the University of Exeter transforms their partial coal and tar sand commitment into a full exclusion that applies to all fossil fuel companies.
March 2022 - De Montfort University becomes the second university this year to Divest the Rest, by committing to the exclusion of all fossil fuel extractor companies by 2023.
May 2022 - The University of Leicester announces full fossil fuel divestment as part of their Climate Strategy.
July 2022 - The University of Northampton commits to full divestment by adding that they “will not invest in fossil fuel extraction or exploitation” to their Responsible Investment Policy.
August 2022 - Rose Bruford College becomes the first UK drama school to affirm their current Fossil Free status and commit to remaining so into the future, by signing the Fossil Free Declaration. Two weeks later, the University of Central Lancashire adds full fossil fuel exclusions to their investment policy. Both of these wins came from the hard work of student campaigners.
September 2022 - The University of Hull adds a rejection of all fossil fuels to their investment policy. Following a student campaign Brunel University London confirms they currently hold no fossil fuel investments and will remain Fossil Free in the future.
October 2022 - Coventry University commits to the exclusion of all fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, making them the 100th UK university to go Fossil Free.
February 2023 - the Royal College of Art adds fossil fuel exclusions to their investment policy, securing them as the first UK university to divest from all fossil fuels in 2023.
March 2023 - the University of Portsmouth updates its Ethical Investment Policy to exclude all fossil fuel industry investments.
May 2023 - the University of Greenwich announces that it now excludes all fossil fuel companies from its investments.
July 2023 - Royal Holloway, University of London commits to divest from all fossil fuels following a campaign from Royal Holloway Students' Union.
August 2023 - University League research uncovers that Royal Agricultural University has incorporated a coal exclusion into their investment policy.
September 2023 - Plymouth Marjon University adds a fossil fuel exclusion to their investment policy, taking us to two-thirds of the UK higher education sector holding some form of Fossil Free commitment.
October 2023 - Robert Gordon University embeds a full fossil fuel divestment commitment into their investment policy. Their commitment means that both universities in Aberdeen - a city known as Europe's oil and gas capital - are Fossil Free. The announcement follows an incredible year-long student campaign.
November 2023 - Research by People & Planet for the 2023-24 University League reveals five new commitments to full fossil fuel divestment. Liverpool John Moores University, Norwich University of the Arts, the University of Chichester, the University of Salford and the University of West London all commit to Fossil Free by incorporating industry exclusions into their Ethical Investment Policies.
February 2024 - following 3 years of student organising, Liverpool Hope University becomes the 23rd UK university to sign the Fossil Free Declaration. Their signatory affirms their current Fossil Free status and their commitment to remaining so in the future.
May 2024 - the University of Westminster commits to going fully Fossil Free by embedding a fossil fuel exclusion into their investment policy.
October 2024: Heriot-Watt University embeds a commitment into their investment policy to avoid investment in all companies with revenues arising from fossil fuels, following a three year student campaign, University League discussions and the publication of their Climate Action Framework.
November 2024: UK first as Staffordshire University updates their investment policy to include both fossil fuel and border industry exclusions, in recognition of the interconnectedness of migrant and climate justice.
December 2024: over three-quarters of UK universities go Fossil Free, following Birmingham City University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Bradford all incorporating fossil fuel industry exclusions into their Ethical Investment Policies. In the same week the University of South Wales updates their investment policy to exclude both fossil fuel and border industry companies from their investments. Not only does this make Welsh universities 100% Fossil Free, it displays meaningful action in the face of the intersecting crises of climate collapse, mass displacement and increasing border violence.

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