Our university divestment campaign achieved unprecedented wins

Through Emissions Impossible, in close collaboration with People and Planet, we have supported many student campaigns that have been successful in convincing universities to commit to removing their investments from fossil fuels. This year we reached the fantastic figure of over one third of UK universities having committed to divestment from fossil fuels, including over one half of Russell Group universities.

Some of the biggest campaign wins this year were:

• University of Bristol divesting from fossil fuels and reinvesting in renewables
• Kings College London’s strong, radical student campaign led to divestment and a reinvestment commitment
• University of Sheffield divesting and reinvesting
• SOAS, University of London, becoming the first university to fulfill its divestment commitment in its entirety, and remove all its funds from fossil fuels

Robbiie Young, Vice President (Society and Citizenship), NUS said: “The fact that a third of UK universities have now divested from fossil fuels is a massive victory for the national and global fossil free movement. This is a direct result of the collective power of students and displays the strength of our voices in our institutions.”