Decoupling Universities from the Fossil Fuel Industry

At the 2023 Conference on Higher Education and the Climate Crisis at University College London the ECC liasoned for and supported the workshop ‘Decoupling Universities from the Fossil Fuel Industry’ with UCL’s Climate Activist Network, bringing together 8 different HE-focused climate campaign groups to collaborate and contribute.

This workshop sought to engage academics, staff and students on the multitude of ways universities may be found complicit in propping up fossil fuel infrastructure and facilitate conversations on these topics, what needs to change and how we can unite to change it. It was split into three focuses:

Monetary investment: The financial investments of the universities themselves and the investments of university pension schemes in fossil fuel corporation assets - such large sums helping to prop up the fossil fuel industry and incentivising continued fossil fuel production

Careers & Research: The presence of the fossil fuel industry at university careers fairs and the continued permittance of these corporations to give targeted talks, sponsorships and career advertisements to university students on campus. The acceptance of funding and sponsorships from fossil fuel corporations in academic research at universities themselves and the implications of this.

External Activism: Do universities support activism amongst students and staff or penalise it? Beyond the walls of our institutes is a larger world that needs radical change as the climate crisis unfolds to move away from fossil fuels. Staff and students are joining in grassroot organising to affect change at higher levels, and we should consider how universities themselves should react to and support this.

The workshop began with short introductions from each collaborator group before inviting participants to join one of three separate groups, focusing on one topic for a facilitated discussion where thoughts and ideas were exchanged.

Please get in touch if you would like support for a similar workshop, or to use the below flyer materials - we are happy to alter the materials for your own institution or workshop.