Contact: Cara Turton-Chambers, lgxct1@nottingham.ac.uk, 0776233166
For immediate release.
The University of Nottingham today announced that they would divest immediately from coal and tar sands and from all fossil fuels investments over the next 12 months.
Currently the university invests around £3 million (6% of its endowment) in the fossil fuel industry, including in companies such as Shell, BP and Centrica [1 and 2] . This divestment win marks the latest in a series of divestments from universities across the UK, with Cardiff, Durham and Bristol all committing to full divestment in the last month alone.
Jane Meehan, Campaign Chair of University of Nottingham People and Planet said: “We're so happy to hear that the university has made the right decision and committed to full divestment. The University of Nottingham are showing that universities can quickly remove fossil fuels from their portfolio.The social license of fossil fuel companies is vanishing. Nottingham’s decision adds to the pressure on other fossil free campaigns including the University of Cambridge and the nearby University of Loughborough. ”
Students have been campaigning for divestment at the University of Nottingham for three years. An online petition has gathered the support of over 1000 students and alumni calling on the university to divest [3].
Peter Mullard, student and previous Chair of University of Nottingham People and Planet said: “I am ecstatic to hear that Nottingham University has decided to divest from fuels in this step forward for environmental sustainability. The divestment campaign group has worked hard and it has paid off!”
Vice Chancellor Professor Shearer West of Nottingham University said: “Fossil fuel divestment is an important part of our global outlook, ethical values and commitment to environmental sustainability.”
Students campaigners at Nottingham have said that they will be closely watching to ensure that the money released from divestment is used and reinvested for environmental and ethical purposes.
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Notes:
1 - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2018/april/the-universit...
2 - https://peopleandplanet.org/university/129395#fossil-free-scorecard
3 - https://campaigns.gofossilfree.org/petitions/divest-the-university-of-no...