University agrees to move investments into fossil-free index related funds, after two years of campaigning by staff and students
The University of Warwick has pledged to divest from fossil fuels, after bowing to pressure from students and staff.
The council of the Coventry-based university, ranked 103rd in the world by Times Higher Education, has revised its "Socially Responsible Investment Policy" to include a commitment to transfer fossil fuel investments into clean energy.
A statement from the university, which campaigners say currently holds £1m of investments in fossil fuels, said that it will ensure that investments are replaced within three years of finding a financially viable fossil-free alternative.
The announcement comes after two years of lobbying by student and staff campus campaigning group Fossil Free Warwick, and its parent organisation, People & Planet. The decision has been praised by the groups, and hailed as listening to "the call of the democratic majority" after 65 per cent of Warwick students who attended an All Student Meeting last February voted to support the campaign.
Dan Goss, a student campaigner for Fossil Free Warwick, said the group was delighted. "We are all delighted that Warwick has brought its investments in line with its professed values, and heeded the call of the democratic majority," he said. "This decision testifies to two long years of campaigning by Fossil Free Warwick. We're overjoyed by this victory - but it's just the beginning. Divestment is the springboard for a united front against the fossil fuel industry globally and on campuses."
The decision makes Warwick the seventh British university to commit to abandoning fossil fuel investments, joining higher education institutions such as the University of Glasgow, the University of Bedfordshire, and the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Sir George Cox, chair of the university's council, said "Warwick's students are global citizens who seek to challenge all of us to consider and reflect on how we as a community can have an impact on this issue both together and as individuals.
"Throughout the discussions leading up to today our students have presented clear arguments that they wanted Council to hear and take seriously and they can be assured by the outcome of our meeting today that Council has done so," he added.
The Fossil Free campaign is lobbying over 750 groups across the globe, including universities, churches and local governments. It has gained the support of the UN, and echoes the British public's concerns about risks of investing in fossil fuels.
