SHEFFIELD

GO FOSSIL FREE
Campaign Brief

Liam Hardy, Christopher Rosslowe & Camilla Zerr

March 2015

Introduction to People & Planet

People and Planet is a national student campaigning organisation, encompassing local groups at
universities and colleges all over the UK. The organisation has forty years of experience in empowering
student activists and generating global citizenship. Read more here: http://peopleandplanet.org/
aboutus/

Summary of Current Campaign

There is no longer any scientific dispute about the human contribution to global warming. By
accepting the most recent IPCC report on climate change, governments all over the world agree that
climate change is happening, and that our actions are causing it. The world has repeatedly agreed that
limiting global warming to 2 C above pre-industrial levels should be our utmost priority (Copenhagen
Accord 2009). With global temperature rises already approaching 1 C above pre-industrial levels, we
are running out of time.
Leading campaigners have called international divestment from the fossil fuel industry as the
strongest action to combat global emissions in the absence of progressive governmental policies on
climate change. We are calling on the University to join a growing number of higher education
institutions around the world in divesting from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. The fossil free
campaign has expanded rapidly since its launch in 2012, and is backed by the National Union of
Students, the World Council of Churches, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the IPCC, the UN climate
chief, over 1900 University of Sheffield students and staff, and Sheffield Students Union itself. In
October 2014, the University of Glasgow pledged to divest 18m from fossil fuel industries, and the
University of London SOAS has frozen theirs while considering divestment options.
In December 2014 the University Investment Committee met with the Students Union Development Officer, and a representative from the Universitys investment managers, Sarasins & Partners.
In this meeting the Investment Committee agreed to consider the fossil free campaign when they
draft an ethical investment policy in May 2015, and the representative from Sarasins & Partners
noted that they would consider setting up a pooled fossil free fund, if there was sufficient demand
from other clients.

Financial Risks and the Carbon Bubble

The combustion of fossil fuels is the primary driver of climate change. The stock market value of fossil
fuel companies is based on their proven reserves, under the outdated assumption they can be burnt
without limit. This is clearly flawed given that global governments have agreed to limit warming to
2 C. In order to have an 80% chance of achieving this target, The Potsdam Institute and Carbon
Tracker (2013) have estimated that at most 565GtCO2 may be released between now and 2050. The
CO2 potential of proven fossil fuel reserves amounts to 2795GtCO2 (Carbon Tracker, 2013). In other
words, 80% of remaining reserves, with an estimated value of $20 trillion (8 times UK GDP), cannot
be burned (Clare Brook, WHEB, 2014). In stark contrast to this, the fossil fuel industry spent $674
billion in 2012 exploring for further reserves. Indicative of wider attitudes within the industry, Jac
Nasser, chairman of BHP Billiton, stated in November 2013: we will not be investing in wind and
solar...so if you want to invest in those companies, cash in your BHP shares today. It is clear that
fossil fuel companies completely lack regard for the urgent challenges posed by climate change.
The International Energy Association estimates that approximately $1 trillion annual investment
in clean energy will be required to limit warming to 2 C - equal to 80% of current annual investment
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in the energy system. A growing awareness to the risks of climate change will inevitably see energy
production shift to renewable sources, stranding the unburnable carbon assets held by fossil fuel
companies. Warning of exactly this problem, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney,
called for investors to consider the long-term impacts of their decisions (October 2014). Furthermore,
A HSBC study in 2013 warned that oil and gas majors could face a loss in market value of up to 60%
should the international community stick to its agreed emission reduction targets.The carbon bubble
will soon burst, making immediate divestment the most economically sensible decision. No one will
want to be the last investor in fossil fuels.
The U.N. Environment Program Finance Initiatives analysis of twenty academic studies on the
effect of incorporating environmental, social and governance factors in the investment management
process - Demystifying Responsible Investment Performance - found no evidence of poorer performance. Furthermore, several reviewed studies that focused specifically on environmental factors
found consideration of those factors actually enhanced performance (Derwall et al. 2005; Van de
Velde et al. 2005). Impax Asset Management in its white paper Beyond Fossil Fuels: The Investment Case for Fossil Fuel Divestment shows that over a five year period to 30 April 2013 the MSCI
World Index with the fossil fuel sector stripped out would have out-performed the MSCI World Index with it left in (Clare Brook, WHEB, 2014). Furthermore, replacing the stripped out fossil fuel
industry investments with investments in energy efficiency and alternative energy further enhances
performance.
Funds that exclude investments in fossil fuels do exist, such as Jupiter Ecology, WHEB Sustainability Fund, and the Alliance Trust Sustainable Futures Absolute Growth Fund (Graham Walton,
Hamnett Wealth Management, 2014). This not only shows that such funds are viable, but also that
fossil fuel free investments are an effective commitment to the long-term protection of the environment, and a core component of the transition to a more sustainable economy.

Human Rights and Local Communities

In regions of the world such as Indonesia and Columbia where coal exploitation is taking place, the
rights of local communities are not respected. Mining companies hide behind promotional material
that gives the impression that they are helping displaced communities, but in actual fact, entire
villages are wiped off the map because they have a high potential for hydrocarbon extraction (World
Development Brief on the Cerrejon mine, 2013). Health impacts are numerous, from coal dust causing
respiratory problems for local people and workers, to increased cancers, higher child mortality, and
river pollution affecting the drinking water and food resources. Furthermore, deforestation due to
coal mining projects can lead to flooding problems.
Ultimately, the development and vast expansion of
coal exploitation in these delicate ecosystems is making a major contribution to climate change. This creates real climate injustice where people who have contributed the least to climate change are its worst victims. In 2011 the University became the first institution to join the Workers Rights Consortium, championing the rights of workers in the garment industry.
By going fossil free, it can build on this progress and
support workers in communities affected by fossil fuel
extraction.
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Figure 1: Fossil fuel divestment activities between 2012 and December 2014.

2012

Nov

Ithaca (US)

22/4/2013

Portland (US)

Aug
4/6/2013

May

Boxtel (NL)

29/10/2013

Nov

2014

8/10/2013

11/3/2013

Seattle (US)

2013

Quakers in Britain

College of the Atlantic, Maine

25/5/2013

Berkley and Boulder (US)

21/12/2012

7/11/2012

350.org launches
divestment campaign

Dunedin (NZ)

Aug

25/6/2014

BMA

13/5/2014

Victoria
University (NZ)

SOAS freezes new investments

29/7/2014

Church of Sweden

23/9/2014

Oxford City Council

14/7/2014

World Council of Churches

10/7/2014

Norway's largest
pension fund

19/11/2014

2014

1/12/2014

University of
Sheffield?

2/11/2014

Nov

25/8/2014

Sydney University

Stanford University (US)

6/5/2014

May

28/4/2014

FTSE creates first fossil-free index

8/10/2014

Glasgow University

14/10/2014

rebro, Sweden

22/9/2014

Rockefeller Foundation

Leading the Way

Sheffield is a leading institution in many areas of research, education, and student experience. We
invest large amounts of time and money into renewable energy and sustainable agriculture research,
but simultaneously investing in fossil fuels is counterproductive. No amount of renewable energy use
will remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The only way to reduce carbon emissions is by
not burning those fossil fuel reserves we know of - Duncan Clarke (UCL Energy Institute). The
argument in favour of divestment lies in that innate contradiction: if the University is holding shares
for the long-term so that its students can succeed in the world, then it is contradictory to hold assets
in companies whose core businesses threaten that world.
As a pioneering institution, in one of the greenest cities in Europe, we have a social responsibility
to vastly reduce emissions, both domestically in our
operations, and publicly, through our investments.
It is wrong for fossil fuel companies to profit from
the destruction of the climate. Severing the University of Sheffields financial ties to this industry would
be a powerful statement about our commitment to a
bringing about a better future. We must remove the
social license of fossil fuel companies, and we must
lead the way. Divestment is accelerating across the
globe (see Figure 1), and it will eventually happen
here. The University of Sheffield has the opportunity to be at the forefront of this change. Lets not
be left behind.

The state of University of Sheffield Investments

Our University contributes 30m to a pooled investment fund, managed by Sarasin & Partners LPP.
Preliminary estimates using retrospective calculations suggest Sarasin & Partners invests approximately 10% of this 30m in fossil fuel companies on behalf of the University. Sarasin & Partners
have explicitly admitted that they have no established fund which avoids this sector. They have
acknowledged that stranded carbon assets are considered a problem with fossil fuel investments, and
they are monitoring the situation to see if sentiment means they will need to create funds that exclude
fossil fuels. Meanwhile, they continue to hold investments in the industry, even as share prices fall.

Our Demands
We ask the University of Sheffield to undertake the following actions:
Make an immediate statement of principle, expressing its intention to divest its holdings in
fossil fuel companies within five years, and immediately stop any new investments in the fossil
fuel industry,
Instruct its investment managers, Sarasin & Partners to eliminate our exposure to carbon
stranded assets under the current investment portfolio,
Instruct Sarasins & Partners to wind down the Universitys existing holdings in the fossil fuel
industry over the next 12 months.
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List of Supporters
Staff
Umberto Albarella - Senior lecturer in Zooarchaeology
Tim Allen - Communications officer, Energy & Environment Team
Sarah Barnes - Section of Public Health, ScHARR, University of Sheffield
Andrew Beckerman - Senior lecturer, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Ian Belton - Systems administrator, CICS
Simone Bijvoet van den Berg - Associate university teacher, Department of Psychology
Sarah Boddy - PDRA, Department of Biomedical Science
Lorraine Bottomley - Green impact team, Student Services Department
Miriam Brown - International officer, student services department
Caspar Chater - Research associate, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Davide Costanzo - Reader in particle physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy
James Cranch - Teaching fellow, School of Maths and Statistics
Milan Delor - E-futures researcher, Doctoral Training Centre for Interdisciplinary Research
Karl Evans - Conservation biology lecturer, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Gareth Fraser - Academic staff and independent research staff, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Harriet Godfrey - Research manager, Management school
Jeremy Green - Honorary research fellow, SPERI, Lecturer in politics, University of Bristol
James Grinham - Biological laboratory support technician, Chemical and Biological Engineering
Tom Harrison - SU welfare officer
Rhoda Hawkins - Lecturer in soft matter theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Esther Hobson - Professor, Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience
Jacob Holmes - Marketing and communications officer, Department of Economics
Hilary Jones - Postgraduate internships coordinator, Careers Service
Alex Kohnert - SU international officer
David Lidzey - Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Vicky Madden - Assistant contracts officer for social sciences
Sam Marsh - Teaching fellow, School of Maths and Statistics
Miriam Miller - SU womens officer
Jessica Naylor - Sustainable behaviour assistant, Green Impact
Becky Oldham - Graduate intern, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Colin Osborne - Research fellow, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Richard Phillips - Professor in human geography, Department of Geography
Phil Riley - University energy manager, Estates and Facilities Management
Olaf Schroth - Lecturer in landscape planning, Department of Landscape
Emma Shepherd - Marketing, Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
William Stuttard - Research staff, Department of Psychology
Jon Sumanik-Leary - Co-ordinator of the wind empowerment association and research fellow
Clio Symington - SU activities officer
Daniela Tepe-Belfrage - Faculty research fellow, Social Science, Department of Politics
Joe Turner - Teacher in international politics and security studies, Department of Politics
Phil Warren - Professor, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
Miriam Webb - Sustainable behaviour assistant, Green Impact
Julia Weinstein - Reader in physical chemistry, Department of Chemistry
Jack Wyse - SU Development Officer

Other
Natalie Bennett - Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
Paul Blomfield - Member of parliament for Sheffield central, Labour Party, 20102015

...in addition to over 1800 students.