Warwick received over £500k in funding from fossil fuel sector

The University of Warwick has received over £500,000 in funding over a five-year period from the fossil fuel sector.

Warwick Uni has received received £554,847 between 2015-2020 from the coal, oil and gas sectors, according to research by The Independent. This is despite the fact the uni pledged its commitment to divesting from fossil fuels in 2015, promising to move its investments out of these sectors as soon as possible.

However, five years on, the university continues to receive funding for teaching and research from these sectors, alongside the majority of the 24 Russell Group universities.

Warwick also declared a state of Climate Emergency in 2019, claiming that it has “a responsibility as a community and organisation to help combat climate change through our individual actions, our research and teaching, and how we run and develop our university.”

The uni pledged to enforce “ambitious plans and goals” in order to reach “net zero carbon from our direct emissions and the energy we buy by 2030, and achieving net zero carbon for both direct and indirect emissions by 2050”.

These plans include developing sustainable transport, substantially reducing energy consumption and reducing water consumption on campus.

A spokesperson for Warwick University said: “The University of Warwick is committed to taking responsibility as a community and as an organisation to combat climate change through our individual actions, our research and teaching, and how we run and develop our university. This has included ending direct investments in fossil fuel extraction or production as part of our Socially Responsible Investment Policy, in 2018 starting to develop a new Campus Masterplan that embeds the principles of a net zero goal into our plans, and in 2019 declaring a Climate Emergency.

“We are today committed to working with our community to put in place initiatives to significantly reduce our indirect emissions with the aim of achieving net zero carbon for both direct and indirect emissions. The University’s Strategy 2030 includes an explicit commitment to develop sustainable transport, energy and a green campus and embed sustainable development principles across our strategies and delivery plan.”

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