Lobby the university to divest from fossil fuels
Gray Wood submitted on 01/03/2024 11:00
Closed on 11/03/2024 11:00
The University of Southampton currently invests 0.5% of its investment portfolio in direct fossil fuel companies, and 0.6% in indirect fossil fuel companies. The university states this is to “engage with fund managers to invest responsibly” (Fossil Fuel statement 2022).
Based on the University's 2023 Financial Statement (publicly available on the UoS website), there is over £2.6 million invested in direct fossil fuel companies and £3.1 million in indirect fossil fuel companies.
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/finance/services/financial-statements.page
This is the equivalent of 616 UK Students Annual tuition fees!
In the face of the climate crisis, one of the most pressing issues of our age, any investment in fossil fuel companies is a direct contribution to the climate crisis.
Surely the most responsible investment is one that contains no fossil fuel companies?
We call on SUSU to hold a referendum to lobby the university to divest from direct and indirect fossil fuel companies.
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/~assets/doc/susdev/FossilFuelStatement2022.pdf