Contemplative Fossil Fuel Divestment for Universities A How To Guide A controversial form of shareholder activism was also an effective tool of publicity and awareness raising around the South African Apartheid. As economic profits take precedent over environmental thrive-ability , fossil fuel divestment is only the first step on a long road to restorative justice for our invaluable ecosystem. A large-scale movement away from fossil fuels is sweeping the nation. The Business Insider recently covered a story on $50 billion Fossil Fuel divestment. Learn more here: ( businessinsider/r-philanthropies-including-rockefellers-and-investors-pledge-50-billion-fossil-fuel-divestment-2014-9 ) Harvards Institute of Politics recently published an article breaking down the effectiveness of fossil fuel divestment. Read on( iop.harvard.edu/does-divestment-work) The New York Times published the question Is Divestment an effective means of protest? a year and a half ago. Read more here: (nytimes/roomfordebate/2013/01/27/is-divestment-an-effective-means-of-protest) Do Your Research. Become familiar with 350.orgs list of 200 top coal and oil companies (gofossilfree.org/companies/) . Develop a working relationship with whomever in your university handles the Endowment. Request a list of the Endowments energy investments specifically and become familiar with your Board of Trustees. Gather background info on pre-existing university energy investments. You have the right as a paying customer of your university to have access to this information. Conduct a student survey to gather data for presenting to the administration. Stanfords student survey showed 70% of the student body supported divestment from fossil fuels, which was valuable information in their dialogues according to Stanford Philosophy major and Fossil Free Stanford member, Matt Simon. Collaboration. Work together with Local Non Profits, Sustainable Investment managers ( check out Naropas cutting-edge managers here veriswp/) and your Student Government. Our administration set up time for the students to meet with our investment managers. At this meeting, the students learnt more about what the managers jobs actually look like, in relation to our university. We were pleasantly surprised to find them extremely aware of environmental impacts of investing. University community as support during this difficult process is invaluable. The Naropa Sustainability Council provided advice and support to the team of students working on Divestment. A member of the NSC, and a Naropa Environmental Leadership Masters program graduate, Sustainability Professor, and Staff member, Jon Dyer, reflects on his role in the divestment process: I was really just a cheerleader. ( to learn more about the Environmental Leadership Masters Program at Naropa, click here naropa.edu/academics/snss/grad/environmental-leadership-ma/ ) community support is a key part of the divestment process. Create a Proposal/Research Paper. This could take the form of a sustainable investment screen,(Find Naropas Investment Screen here : naropa.edu/the-naropa-experience/sustainability/investment.php) , a research paper, or a proposal for a student managed sustainable investment fund. Stanford wrote a 25 page Case for divestment Paper, check it out here fossilfreestanford.org/report-the-case-for-divestment.html . Start broad with the proposal, and encourage collaboration among many stakeholder groups such as students, faculty, staff, alumni, and administration to refine it to fit your universitys needs. Build Community. Show up to school administration meetings, start a letter writing campaign, utilize student and faculty support resources, present to as many campus work groups that will meet with you. Start a student group, establish your groups right to be on campus is a valuable tip from Sage Behr, of Fossil a Free Stanford. 350.org is a wonderful resource to connect with in this process that is spearheaded by Bill McKibben. In Stanfords case, 350 provided a financial analyst to support their divestment. Naropa University benefited from weekly calls with the local Colorado 350 chapter. Start letter writing campaigns from faculty, students, staff, alumni, even parents of students to show the community support. Host social gatherings that double as educational events. Be patient. Be willing to compromise, small steps, persist!After presenting to our Board of trustees, we had to wait over a semester to hear any word of how our presentation was received. The understanding and ability to empathize with Board members allows more honest and open communication. When compromises arise, this relationship was key. It was a Board Member, Christopher Hormel, who advocated for us that got our team access to the list of companies, a meeting with the board, and our eventual divestment. According to Sage Behr, of Fossil Free Stanford, the president laughed when they first presented divestment to him, and now is grateful to the positive media opportunity. This is not the end. They may accept your list as presented. They may refuse to meet with you. A spectrum of responses were experienced by universities all over the country. We, at Naropa, were led by students and openly supported by administration. It took us an entire year. According to Matt Simon of a Fossil Free Stanford, their process took over two years, and only divested from coal... Our student group dreamt of sharing our journey with colleges all over the world to help inspire and provide support. That is why we have created this guide. It is not a fail safe plan, but another resource in the journey to a thriving planet for future generations. Make sure to celebrate all the hard work that goes into being a part of social change.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:51:25 +0000
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