Extract from The Guardian
Academics and general staff commend university for withstanding
public criticism over initial divestment and call for further share
sales
Hundreds of academics and other staff at the Australian National
University have called on the university to divest completely from
fossil fuels, in an open letter addressed to the ANU council.
In 2014, under the previous vice chancellor, ANU divested from seven resource companies, selling about $16m worth of shares. The move attracted a torrent of criticism in editorials in the Australian financial press, and even the country’s treasurer at the time, Joe Hockey, weighed in, describing ANU as “removed from the reality of what is helping to drive the Australian economy and create more employment”.
The new letter, signed by 450 academics and general staff, commends the university for withstanding that pressure, and calls on it to divest all its holdings in fossil fuel companies, which it estimates to be over $45m.
A spokesman for 350.org, which helped organise the open letter, said it was the second largest such letter in the world, after one organised at the University of California, which led to a significant divestment by the university in September last year.
When ANU divested from the seven resource companies in 2014, the then vice-chancellor Ian Young said, “We need to be able to put our hand on our heart when we talk to our students and to our alumni and to our researchers and be able to say that we’re confident that the sort of companies that we’re investing in are consistent with the broad themes that drive this university.”
The current vice-chancellor of ANU, physicist and nobel laureate Brian Schmidt, described climate change as “the great challenge for humanity over the next 100 years” and said that to keep warming below 2C, “citizens of the world need to demand it.”
Picking up on that call, the open letter said: “As citizens of this university, we demand the ANU take leadership on this issue. This includes fully breaking ties with the fossil fuel industry – the ANU must divest the rest.”
Fossil Free ANU spokesperson and ANU student Zoe Neumayer said staff wanted to send a strong message to Schmidt.
“This letter sends Prof Schmidt and the ANU Council a message they can’t ignore. ANU staff want their university to move beyond its first step and divest in full from fossil fuels.”
“As Brian Schmidt faces up to his new job, he must make sure ANU faces up to the scale of the climate challenge – and that means divesting from the fossil fuel companies that are holding back progress.”
The campaign was facilitated by 350.org, which has led divestment campaigns around the world.
In September 2015 the University of California divested from coal and tar sands. In November, just ahead of the Paris climate change negotiations, 10 universities in the UK pledged to divest from fossil fuels. Those moves follow others from universities including Syracuse University and Glasgow University, as well as many other organisations around the world.
Schmidt and ANU have been approached for comment.
In 2014, under the previous vice chancellor, ANU divested from seven resource companies, selling about $16m worth of shares. The move attracted a torrent of criticism in editorials in the Australian financial press, and even the country’s treasurer at the time, Joe Hockey, weighed in, describing ANU as “removed from the reality of what is helping to drive the Australian economy and create more employment”.
The new letter, signed by 450 academics and general staff, commends the university for withstanding that pressure, and calls on it to divest all its holdings in fossil fuel companies, which it estimates to be over $45m.
A spokesman for 350.org, which helped organise the open letter, said it was the second largest such letter in the world, after one organised at the University of California, which led to a significant divestment by the university in September last year.
When ANU divested from the seven resource companies in 2014, the then vice-chancellor Ian Young said, “We need to be able to put our hand on our heart when we talk to our students and to our alumni and to our researchers and be able to say that we’re confident that the sort of companies that we’re investing in are consistent with the broad themes that drive this university.”
The current vice-chancellor of ANU, physicist and nobel laureate Brian Schmidt, described climate change as “the great challenge for humanity over the next 100 years” and said that to keep warming below 2C, “citizens of the world need to demand it.”
Picking up on that call, the open letter said: “As citizens of this university, we demand the ANU take leadership on this issue. This includes fully breaking ties with the fossil fuel industry – the ANU must divest the rest.”
Fossil Free ANU spokesperson and ANU student Zoe Neumayer said staff wanted to send a strong message to Schmidt.
“This letter sends Prof Schmidt and the ANU Council a message they can’t ignore. ANU staff want their university to move beyond its first step and divest in full from fossil fuels.”
“As Brian Schmidt faces up to his new job, he must make sure ANU faces up to the scale of the climate challenge – and that means divesting from the fossil fuel companies that are holding back progress.”
The campaign was facilitated by 350.org, which has led divestment campaigns around the world.
In September 2015 the University of California divested from coal and tar sands. In November, just ahead of the Paris climate change negotiations, 10 universities in the UK pledged to divest from fossil fuels. Those moves follow others from universities including Syracuse University and Glasgow University, as well as many other organisations around the world.
Schmidt and ANU have been approached for comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment