Harvard U Expands Green Revolving Fund from $12 to $37M
The new $37 million green revolving fund (GRF) priorities are to 1) accelerate additional energy efficiency, especially heat/energy recovery and load reduction, in all buildings; 2) replace fossil fuel equipment with electric technology at end-of-life, whenever possible; and 3) when renovating space or changing HVAC systems or equipment, design the equipment to use low temperature hot water for future flexibility. The GRF allows schools and units at Harvard to apply for a zero-interest loan and pay back the principal over up to 10 years.
Catawba College Gift Enables $66M Endowment for Sustainability
The college received recently a $200 million anonymous gift to its endowment. Two-thirds of the annual distributions from the gift will provide unrestricted funding for the college while the remaining third will be directed to programs that support environmental education and sustainability.
McGill U Divests From Direct Holdings
The university recently announced divestment from all direct holdings in fossil-fuel companies listed in the Carbon Underground 200, for implementation in 2024 and completion in 2025.
Students at Six Universities File Legal Complaints About Fossil Fuel Investments
Student organizers at six universities in the U.S. wrote to the attorneys general of their respective states asking officials to scrutinize their universities’ investments. The students argue that by investing in coal, oil and gas, the schools are violating their obligations as non-profit organizations to prioritize the public interest.
Robert Gordon U Divests From Fossil Fuels
The university recently announced its commitment to exclude fossil fuel extraction companies from all its investments, despite a number of links to the industry, including courses that are specific to the oil and gas industry.
New York U to Divest From Fossil Fuels
In a letter to the fossil fuel divestment campaign student activist group, the university committed to avoid any direct investments in any company whose primary business is the exploration or extraction of fossil fuels and not to renew or seek out any dedicated private funds whose primary aim is to invest in the exploration or extraction of fossil fuels.
Investment Coalition Seeks to Stop New Fossil Fuel Projects
(U.K.) Representatives from the Universities of Newcastle, Sussex, Bristol, and from Trinity College Cambridge and Jesus College at the University of Cambridge recently published an open letter asking asset managers to vote against directors of companies pursuing or backing new fossil fuel projects. It also asks investors to support all climate-linked shareholder resolutions, particularly those that call for an end to new fossil fuel projects.
Victoria U to Divest From Fossil Fuels
The board of regents for Victoria University at the University of Toronto approved recently a motion to divest the university’s endowment portfolio from fossil fuel companies by 2030.
U Pacific Begins Divestment From Fossil Fuels
The university's board of regents agreed recently to several measures beginning immediately, including removing investments from companies associated with thermal coal and tar sands. The university will also explore options for clean energy investments.
Carleton College Eliminates Direct Fossil Fuel Holdings
The college's board of trustees voted recently to reduce exposure to fossil fuel investments in the college’s endowment by immediately eliminating all direct holdings of fossil fuel companies, and resolving to make no new investments in private funds that focus exclusively on oil and gas extraction.
HKUST Adopts ESG Investment Policy
(Hong Kong) The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) pledged to eliminate investments in fossil fuels through a newly adopted environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investment strategy, consistent with the scientific consensus on climate change and the goals of the Paris Agreement. By 2030, 100 percent of in-scope assets will be invested in companies that have adopted science-based targets.
Lewis & Clark College, Arizona State U & Chatham U Commit to Sustainable Retirement Plan
In mid-September, the Intentional Endowment Network's Sustainable Retirement Pledge was adopted by Arizona State University, the ASU Foundation, Chatham University, and Lewis & Clark College, which commits signatories to offering university employees a range of sustainable investing retirement fund options that consider ESG factors, while reducing risk, protecting capital and enhancing financial returns.
San Francisco State U Prioritizes Climate & Racial Justice Investment Goals
The university foundation's new commitments include making measurable progress in growing the percentage of its portfolio managed by companies owned or led by people of color and women within five years, net-zero carbon emissions for its endowment by 2040, and divestiture of fossil fuel companies by 2025.
Princeton U Dissociates from 90 Fossil Fuel Companies
The board of trustees of the university voted in September to dissociate from 90 companies pursuant to a fossil fuel dissociation decision made last year that focused on the most-polluting segments of the industry and on concerns about corporate disinformation campaigns. It will also eliminate all holdings in publicly traded fossil fuel companies.
U Central Lancashire Divests From Fossil Fuels
The university's recent announced its decision to divest its funds in the fossil fuel industry in line with its commitment to sustainable and ethical investments. This includes all companies in the oil, gas and consumable fuels industry; energy equipment and services industry; and diversified metals and mining industry.
U Washington to Divest From Fossil Fuels
The university's board of regents in early September approved a resolution to begin exiting all direct investments in fossil fuel companies with the goal of complete divestiture by fiscal year 2027. The resolution includes a commitment not to renew indirect investments in funds primarily focusing on fossil-fuel extraction or reserves. The resolution also includes a goal of investing at least 2.5 percent of the UW’s entire Consolidated Endowment Fund in climate-solutions companies or asset managers and a commitment to achieving net-zero emissions in the university’s endowment fund by fiscal year 2050.
Rose Bruford College to Divest From Fossil Fuels
(U.K.) The college recently signed the Fossil Free Declaration, hosted by People & Planet. By signing the declaration, the college affirms its current fossil fuel-free status, and its commitment to remain so in the future.
U Northampton Divests From Fossil Fuels
(U.K.) As part of the fossil free declaration, the university has updated its Responsible Investment Portfolio to exclude fossil fuel companies. The policy states that investment managers must consider "protection of the global environment, its climate and its biodiversity including, but not limited to, the reduction and future elimination of fossil fuel exploration and production".
Northwestern U Establishes Energy Investment Guidelines
The university announced in mid-June new investment guidelines regarding fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions and energy. The board of trustees directed the university's investment office to direct future investments in energy companies that produce alternative or responsible transition fuels with lower levels of GHG emissions; divest from direct holdings in companies identified as pursuing poor GHG emissions practices, energy production or climate change information and research; support investments in technologies that can accelerate the transition to carbon-free; and measure the endowment's carbon footprint.
U Maine to Divest From Fossil Fuel Holdings
In mid-May, the investment committee for the system's board of trustees approved a two-step plan to fully divest from fossil fuels by 2030—starting with the elimination of all direct fossil fuel holdings by the end of May.
U Manchester Divests From Fossil Fuels
(U.K.) The university's recently published Responsible Investment Report indicates that it is now divested from fossil fuel companies and has exceeded its target for reducing the carbon intensity of its other holdings.
Marquette U Prohibits Direct Investments in Fossil Fuels
The university's board of trustees recently approved an updated investment policy for the university endowment. The new socially responsible investing and sustainability language strictly prohibits direct investments in public securities whose primary business is the exploration or extraction of fossil fuels. The university’s current investment portfolio does not include any direct public investments in fossil fuels.
Academics Sign Letter Encouraging Rejection of Research Funding From Fossil Fuel Companies
Five hundred academics from the U.S. and U.K. recently signed onto an open letter addressed to university leaders in the two countries, calling on them to reject all funding from fossil fuel companies for climate research. The letter cited the potential conflict of interest and compromise of academic freedom, as well as the opportunity for companies to greenwash their reputation.
Case Western Reserve U to Divest From Fossil Fuels
In a recent announcement, the president confirmed that the public side of the university's endowment portfolio is completely divested from fossil fuels exposure, and that the fossil fuel investments on the private side could take years to fully divest due to contractual obligations. Additionally, the university will not make any future investments in fossil fuel companies and in funds that include fossil fuel-related investments.
