Uni of Nottingham pledges to remove all investments from fossil fuels

We might have questioned Notts' environmental sustainability when a paper cube came through each of our doors, but the uni has won our green hearts back by announcing that it will remove any investment in fossil fuels.

Nottingham University now has joined other Russell Group universities such as Edinburgh, Sussex, UCL, and Durham, who have also all pledged to divest from fossil fuels.

At the moment, six per cent of the university's £50 million fund is invested in fossil fuels.

Investments in coal and tars sands are to be removed immediately, and by the end of the year, the university will have completely divested its financial portfolio from fossil fuels.

The decision was made so the university's investments and campus activity reflect its global outlook, ethical values, and commitment to environmental sustainability.

The University of Nottingham is certainly well known for its commitment to sustainability. It ranked second in the 2017 Green Metric Rankings – an analysis of campuses and their policies related to sustainability in universities globally.

The university is also a partner in the Midlands Energy Research Accelerator, following a carbon management plan to reduce its energy consumption, and in 2016 opened the Glaxo SmithKline Centre for Sustainable Chemistry in a carbon neutral building. It is soon to establish its first PassivHaus standard Research Acceleration and Demonstration building.

Chief Financial Officer for the University of Nottingham Margaret Monckton said: “The University has always maintained that it is not willing to invest in organisations which demonstrate explicit environmental damage which includes severe damage to ecosystems, natural habitats or species."