Anti-fossil fuel student activists at Edinburgh University in the United Kingdom are occupying one of the school’s financial buildings in hopes of pressuring it to fully divest from oil producers and gun makers.
The 20 demonstrators are part of the People and Planet movement, which seeks to find ways to solve poverty and environmental degradation. They moved into the Charles Stewart House, a financial building on the University’s campus, in the hopes of forcing Edinburgh into fully divesting oil assets within the next five years.
“We are occupying Charles Stewart House in demand that the university publicly commits to not reinvesting in any companies that attain more than five per cent of their profit from fossil fuel or arms,” the group said in a Facebook post.
They tweeted a photo Monday of the occupation:
The Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) jumped to the demonstrator’s aid, writing in a statement Monday it fully supports the divestment campaign.
The EUSA statement reads: “The student campaign for divestment deserves credit for keeping these issues at the top of the agenda of senior management, and galvanizing a culture change within the university on ethical investment.”
Edinburgh, for its part, argues it has already purged most of its oil assets and intends on divesting more in the coming years.
“We do not invest in companies involved in the highest carbon-emitting industries. Last summer, we divested millions of pounds from three of the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers,” a university official told reporters. “Last September, we also confirmed we do not, and never will, invest in companies involved in controversial weapons or any company with a significant interest in armaments.”
People and Planet claimed in a blog post Tuesday it will only end its occupation when Edinburgh commits to “never invest” in any companies with more than 5 percent profit from fossil fuels and arms manufacture.
The group said despite Edinburgh’s dramatic reductions in fossil fuel assets, it still has work to do.
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