Today, the University of Staffordshire has committed to exclude both border industry and fossil fuel extractor companies from their investment portfolios. This is a highly significant move that makes them the first UK university to commit to both the Divest Borders and Fossil Free campaigns simultaneously.
The university announced its commitment to exclude border industry and fossil fuel companies from all its investments by updating its Investment Policy. This victory was revealed by People & Planet University League research. The People & Planet University League is the only comprehensive and independent league table of UK universities ranked by environmental and ethical performance. The 2024-25 dataset is due to be launched imminently.
Students have been at the forefront of these campaigns for justice, securing 111 wins on Fossil Free and 5 on Divest Borders to date. It is thanks to generations of People & Planet organisers - alongside the wider student movement - that we witness the first UK university recognise the interconnected nature of migrant justice and climate justice in their policy exclusions. Students have been instrumental in developing and articulating the narrative that it is the same systems of capitalism and colonialism that appropriate land, resources, and labour for profit, and that use the border industry to maintain a relationship of extraction with the Global South. Fossil Free and Divest Borders recognise that there is no solution without understanding the ties that link these struggles, which is why together the campaigns have been calling for UK universities to stop cashing in on the growing business of deportation flights, fossil fuels and detention centres. Together, these campaigns (and the students leading them) are liberating their institutions and continue to keep up the pressure.
Both Divest Borders and Fossil Free are led by the student network of People & Planet which, since its inception in 1969, has been supporting students to fight for social and environmental justice on their campuses. The student-led charity began its flagship Fossil Free campaign in 2013 and Divest Borders in 2021. Both campaigns make use of the tactic of public divestment announcements to delegitimise their target industries. These challenge the social licence of these companies to continue with their destructive operations.
The Divest Borders campaign demands that UK universities exclude the companies complicit in maintaining the UK’s violent border industry as an act of solidarity with those impacted by its operations, which includes harms such as detention, deportation and the disproportionate surveillance of racialised communities. The Fossil Free campaign demands fossil fuel industry exclusions in recognition of the industry’s role in the climate crisis, and in solidarity with the frontline and Indigenous communities experiencing the sharp end of the injustices wrought by fossil fuel operations and climate impacts.
André Dallas, Co-Director: Migrant Justice at People & Planet, said: “University of Staffordshire’s bold commitment to divest from both the border industry and fossil fuel extraction marks a powerful and necessary step towards a just future. Students are unequivocal in their position that we must recognise that these systems of injustice are deeply interconnected, and that universities must lead by example. The exploitation of people and the planet cannot be separated; they are both symptoms of the same underlying forces privileging profit over integrity. We commend Staffordshire for this move to align their investment activities with their stated values and look forward to further institutions following suit.”