Edinburg, UK – On Monday 11th May, the University of Edinburgh is due to make a final decision on divesting from fossil fuels. The University of Edinburgh has the third largest university endowment in the UK, after Oxford and Cambridge, totalling £291 million. It invests approximately £9 million in fossil fuel companies including BP, Shell and BHP Billiton. In the UK, the University of Glasgow, University of Bedfordshire, and the University of London SOAS have all committed to divest, making an international total of 28 universities moving their money out of fossil fuels.
The decision will be made in the afternoon at a meeting of the University Court – the highest decision-making body in the university. The meeting could see the university divesting from companies involved in the extraction of coal and tar sands, following a recommendation from the university's Central Management Group in April. This is a result of a three-year campaign by the Edinburgh People & Planet student group, supported by the Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA).
Kirsty Haigh, student campaigner with Edinburgh People & Planet, said: "If Edinburgh decides to divest on Monday, it will send an important signal to other universities in Scotland and across the UK that investing in this rogue industry is morally unjustifiable. The university needs to listen to the voices of its students, academics and alumni who are demanding it takes this vital action on climate change."
The campaign at Edinburgh has gathered widespread support from across the community, with backing from over 50 university academics and the Edinburgh University Students Association. Students, alumni and faculty staff will demonstrate on campus on Monday to demand that the university divests fully from the world's top 200 fossil fuel companies.
The People & Planet student network have joined a global campaign to push universities to divest from the 200 fossil fuel companies that hold the vast majority of the world's oil, coal and gas reserves, arguing that the fossil fuel industry is a rogue industry which is driving climate change and blocking clean energy solutions.
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