This week, pro-divestment groups at the University of Pennsylvania are gathering for what is called DivestFest, a weeklong effort to promote divestment on campus. Activities include a panel discussion on the merits of fossil fuel divestment and a protest Friday at the Board of Trustees. As 350.org and others utilize the events at Penn to …
As the 2017 school year begins to approach Thanksgiving recess, commentary from across the country continues to find divestment is a failing effort on college campuses, cities, and pension funds alike. The reason: divestment is not only costly, it is ineffective at achieving the environmental goals its backers claim to seek. For starters, divestment means …
This week, the Action Network is planning several days of demonstrations as a part of their “Divest the Globe” campaign. The protests will coincide with 92 of the world’s largest banks meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil to discuss risk management and climate policy. Protests will focus on targeting banks like Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan …
After striking out in Seattle, New York State and Vermont, it appears divestment activists are now hoping for better luck in Massachusetts. This week, the Boston Business Journal reports a divestment bill is being debated in the state legislature “as a way to speed decline of fossil fuels.” The proposed bill would require the state’s …
Yesterday, 40 Catholic institutions announced their intention to divest from fossil fuels. While environmental activists are hailing this move as a huge win for the divestment movement, there are –as per usual- some important details being overlooked. First and foremost, several of the institutions taking part in this announcement did not have any fossil fuel …
Yesterday Syracuse University’s (SU) student newspaper ran an article proclaiming that the school’s decision to divest its direct holdings two years ago has not had an adverse effect on the endowment, contending that, “The university’s chief financial officer said there is no evidence the endowment has suffered as a result of divestment.” Unfortunately, the paper …
The Public Interest Investment Advisory Committee (PIIAC) at Johns Hopkins has released their recommendation and report on divestment, a document that will now go to the Board of Trustees for consideration. The report – while having zero actual authority on a future decision by the university — calls for partial divestment of the university’s already …
After multiple delays, there’s a lot of attention this week on the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) and whether or not they will divest. Divestment Facts breaks down what is, and most importantly what is not, going on. For starters, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today passed a non-binding resolution that was “expected …
Sierra Club’s annual ranking of environmentally conscious “cool schools” is out, and while many may assume that a divestment policy would propel a university to the top of the list, the top spots were actually more likely to go to a university that kept their fossil fuel investments than one that caved to divestment activists. …
UPDATE (9/5/2017, 9:10 a.m.): Refuel Our Future, the Hopkins Divestment group, reports that they “received word last week from the Public Interest Investment Advisory Committee (PIIAC) that their recommendation and report to the Board of Trustees will be made on Sept. 15th instead of the previously set date of Sept. 5th.” More updates to come as …
All quotes featured by professors and school leaders on this website are public statements made by individuals and are not necessarily representative of the institution of which they are associated. Said schools and universities are also not affiliated with IPAA or DivestmentFacts.com.