Fossil Fuel Promotion in the SU Approved By Zone, including comments and details of any vote DAN SCHOFIELD Approved by Scrutiny Committee, including comments Overview (100 words) Facts Statements that are true, please provide appropriate references 01.06.17 Although not a regular occurrence, the Students Union is occasionally approached by companies wishing to promote themselves in our building. Our SU is committed to sustainability; demonstrated by consistently scoring highly in Green Impact. It is already SU policy to not invest in fossil fuel companies and given these existing commitments it would be illogical for us to give these companies a pedestal and allow them the assumed support of our influential organisation. Promoting fossil fuel companies in our SU is incompatible with our core beliefs. This will not deprive students wishing to enter these industries as they can still promote opportunities through existing university channels in the same manner as all other companies. 1. Union Council policy was passed in 2016 to support divestment campaigns on campus. 2. The Students Union does not invest in fossil fuel companies and has a commitment not to do so in the future. 3. Companies can promote opportunities to students via the Careers Service and academic departments. 4. I have included the divestment policy passed in 2016 as an appendix for additional information. Opinions What should the Union think or believe on this topic/issue? 1. The Students Union should not be actively supporting companies that have a track record of environmental damage. Actions/Outcomes What are the things you would like to see happen? 1. For it to become policy that companies that cause explicit environmental damage can not be promoted within the Students Union. The term explicit environmental damage has been taken from the university s ethical investment guidelines and it will be applied at the discretion of the marketing team and Executive Officers. All companies have some
level of environmental impact and the term explicit environmental damage differentiates these from companies where their primary function has a significant environmental impact. This would include fossil fuel industries and mining corporations that cause unsustainable land degradation. It is likely companies that meet this definition would appear on lists such as the Carbon Underground 200 list or similar.
Appendix UNIVERSITY DIVESTMENT FROM FOSSIL FUELS DAN SCHOFIELD (ON BEHALF OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION SOCIETY) Approved By Zone, including comments and details of any vote Approved by Scrutiny Committee, including comments Overview (100 words) Facts Statements that are true, please provide appropriate references Community Zone 02.11.15 12 November 2015 UK universities hold 6.6 billion in fossil fuel industries providing financial and moral support to a sector that is undeniably driving climate destruction. Divestment would set a precedent for other universities to follow (18 in the UK have already committed) and establish the university as a world-leader. We believe that profiting from unethical industries is wrong and that it is the university s moral obligation to invest ethically. This is something that can be achieved without damaging the university s finances. 1. The university invests in fossil fuel industries, tobacco companies and arms industries in its investment portfolio. 2. The university is not following its own Treasury Management Policy. Comprehensive references can be found at the end of the open letter that is being sent with this proposal. Opinions What should the Union think or believe on this topic/issue? 1. It is immoral to invest in environmental destruction. 2. The university s investments should be transparent and subject to ethical scrutiny. 3. The university should update its ethical investment guidelines and adhere to them. Actions/Outcomes What are the things you would like to see happen? 1) The university divests from companies listed on the Carbon Underground 200 list. 2) The university divests from other companies with environmental and ethical issues. 3) The university s guidelines for ethical investment are updated and adhered to. 4) The university s investment portfolio is made accessible to all by being posted online. 5) The university invests a minimum of 15% in renewable technologies as a university led by discovery and innovation.
This is what we requesting of the university. Things we would like to see happen from the Union Council are as follows: 1) The council write a paper in support of divestment to the Board of Financial Directors. The board has requested that this happens and the paper will be considered in their next meeting (January 2016). 2) The SU officially supports the EAS campaign for divestment and continues to work with us. 3) Any council members especially interested in the campaign put themselves forward to join our divestment team to continue to grow our campaign. Wednesday 14 th October 2015 Re: University divestment Dear Board of Financial Directors, I am writing this letter on behalf of students with a concern for the environment and the future of the planet. To this end, we request that the University of Leicester divests its funds from fossil fuel industries and other unsustainable and unethical industries. Divestment is defined as the opposite of an investment (gofossilfree.org) and other divestment campaigns have had a positive impact on global issues including violence in Darfur, tobacco advertising and South African apartheid. The present divestment movement is targeting the issue of climate change; the international community agree that a global temperature increase of 2 C would have catastrophic global effects which we are already experiencing with melting ice caps and more erratic global weather. Despite estimations that an increase of 2 C could happen within just 16 years at our current rate of consumption, UK universities continue to provide financial and moral support to the industry; to the tune of 6.6 billion per year. The University of Leicester has a part to play in this with over half a million pounds invested in various fossil fuel industries. Considering that tuition fee income represented 47.8% of the university s income in the year 2013-2014 and that most people would consider paying the university fees an investment into their future, we feel it is immoral for the university to then invest this money into industries that are ultimately destroying our future. Global divestment has seen a huge increase in recent years with 449 institutions worldwide committed to removing their money from unsustainable industries. Cumulatively, this represents more than 1.7 trillion that has been divested from fossil fuel industries. Six UK universities are already on this list, including the universities of Edinburgh,
Glasgow and Warwick, with others set to follow. The Carbon Underground 200 is a quarterly updated list comprised from research conducted by Fossil Free Indexes LLC, a company that delivers research, consulting and investment solutions to investors concerned about climate and environmental risk (fossilfreeindexes.com). The list consists of the top 100 public coal companies and the top 100 public gas and oil companies ranked by the potential carbon emissions of their reported reserves. These reserves contain more than five times the amount of carbon that scientists predict is safe to burn. It is for this reason that we call for the university to immediately divest all funds from companies on this list. At present we have identified 10 separate companies in the university s portfolio that feature on the Carbon Underground 200 list. This amounts to almost a quarter of a million pounds invested in those companies that present the greatest risk to environmental stability. In addition, we have identified a further 7 companies in which the university holds investments that represent unsustainable industries that contribute to climate change such as fossil fuel exploration and mining companies. Within this list is one exception that we request divestment from on the grounds that it directly contradicts 2.2 (b) (iii) e. of the university s Treasury Management Policy which states the university will not invest in organisations involved in the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Despite this regulation, the university has 35,751 invested in Altria Group Inc. which is one of the world s largest tobacco and cigarette corporations owning such household names as Marlboro, L&M, Benson and Hedges and Players. Furthermore, in the university s Treasury Management Policy, guideline 2.2 (b) (iii) a. states that the university will not invest in organisations where the primary part of their business clearly demonstrates explicit environmental damage. We feel that those industries we have highlighted in the university s current portfolio go against this guideline and request that the university updates its portfolio to follow the guidelines laid out in its own Treasury Management Policy. In addition, we request that these guidelines be reviewed and updated to reflect the university s commitment to divestment and protecting the environment. We also believe that the university s portfolio and investment should be publicly available information and to reflect this and ensure accountability for the future we request that an online copy of the university s portfolio be made publicly available for interested parties to access. Finally, in order to live up to the aspirational quote on the university s homepage that this is a university led by discovery and innovation we request that the university considers committing 15% of its future investment portfolio to industries that are working to combat climate change. This would include industries such as renewable technologies and would go some way to mitigating the university s previous investment in fossil fuel industries. Renewable technologies are given as an example and this percentage does not represent a commitment solely to this industry. Rather, this 15% should be invested in companies that have an overt commitment to combating climate change through their business practices. In the Treasurer s Report for the year ended 31 st July 2014, Treasurer Mr D. Moore wrote that the University of Leicester will become an established top ten UK university. Furthermore, in a recent presentation to incoming committee members, Student Union Officers told us that the university was a foremost leader among other universities. Unfortunately, the university league tables show otherwise; the Complete University Guide shows this university to have fallen five places since last year, to 24 th, while The Guardian s table is even worse showing a huge 11 place slide from 21 st to 32 nd. This university has done an excellent job of showcasing the discovery of King Richard III in the media and has gained a lot of positive attention from around the world. Following the huge event this year of King Richard s internment we would like to see the university become
the centre of another positive media story; showing itself to be a leading institution by becoming the seventh UK university to divest from fossil fuel industries. A press release from the 1 st October 2015 proudly proclaims that the University of Leicester has risen 32 places in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. However, the university does not do quite as well on People & Planet s definitive ranking of universities based on their environmental and ethical performance and manages a dismal joint 94 th place out of 151 UK universities. Just six UK universities have committed to divestment so far. In total, we are calling for a divestment from 9.56% of the university s current portfolio. Given that this is a relatively small amount, we feel that divestment is something that the university could achieve in the very near future. This would bring positive publicity to the university, ensure the university lives up to its image and official guidelines and is a step in the right direction for protecting the environment. It could even be seen as a move to safeguard future university investments following Mark Carney of the Bank of England s recent statement that investors in the fossil fuel industry face potentially huge losses (Financial Times article from 29 th September 2015, http://www.ft.com/). We sincerely hope that the University of Leicester will become the seventh UK university to make a divestment commitment and recognise the role it can play as a leading institution in combating climate change. Dan Schofield President of the University of Leicester s Environmental Action Society 5 actions we request 1) The university divests from companies listed on the Carbon Underground 200 list. 2) The university divests from other companies with environmental and ethical issues. 3) The university s guidelines for ethical investment are updated and adhered to. 4) The university s investment portfolio is made accessible to all by being posted online. 5) The university invests a minimum of 15% in renewable technologies as a university led by discovery and innovation. List of companies currently invested in that appear on the Carbon Underground 200 list 1) BG Group PLC 2) BP PLC 3) Royal Dutch Shell 4) BHP Billiton PLC 5) Glencore PLC 6) Rio Tinto PLC 7) Total SA 8) Anadarko Petroleum Corp 9) Continental Resources Inc/OK
10) Mitsubishi Estate Co. LTD List of other unsustainable companies currently invested in 1) Cairn Energy PLC 2) Central Rand Gold LTD 3) Randgold Resources LTD 4) China Mengniu Dairy Co. 5) Gaztransport et Techniga 6) Schlumberger LTD 7) Altria Group LTD For more information http://350.org/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. http://gofossilfree.org/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. http://peopleandplanet.org/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. Sources http://350.org/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. Carbon Underground 200, http://fossilfreeindexes.com/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. Sarasin and Partners, Consolidated Portfolio Valuation for the University of Leicester. University of Leicester Financial Statements 2013-2014, http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/finance/statements [accessed 1st October 2015]. Clark, P., Mark Carney warns investors face huge climate change losses (September 2015), http://www.ft.com/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. http://gofossilfree.org/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. https://le.ac.uk/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. http://peopleandplanet.org/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/finance/staff/regulations/appendices/appendix-c-treasurymanagement-policy [accessed 1st October 2015]. University League Table 2015, http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. University League Tables 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/ [accessed 1 st October 2015]. World University Rankings 2015-16, https://www.timeshighereducation.com [accessed 1 st October 2015].