Following the University of Queensland’s dismissal of divestment in 2016 (see Chancellor’s letter here), we are urging the university to reconsider their position as a matter of extreme importance in the rapidly escalating climate crisis. Specifically,

1. To freeze any new investments in fossil fuels immediately, and divest from fossil fuel companies, including those in the Carbon Underground 200 (the top 100 coal and the top 100 oil and gas companies, ranked by the potential carbon emissions content of their reported reserves) within 5 years

2. All UQ Senate members’ conflicts of interests to be disclosed before meetings and these disclosures be taken into consideration when it comes to decision-making

3. Publicly declare a climate emergency

We acknowledge and applaud the important commitment that UQ is making to embed sustainability across all aspects of teaching, engagement and operations, and advancing climate change and renewable energy research.

Nonetheless, UQ's 2019 financial statements list $4.4 million of assets invested in UQ's ‘Socially Responsible Investment Green Fund’, the only investment portfolio not tied up with companies profiting from fossil fuels. This sits in stark contrast to $306.5 million 'UQ Investment Fund' - a portfolio that does not preclude investments in fossil fuel companies. Continued investment in the fossil fuel industry maintains its social licence to operate, thereby legitimising the continuation and expansion of operations. Although some of these companies may be exploring alternative energy options, while they continue to burn fossil fuels with complete cognisance of the environmental impacts, they are choosing to put profits before the planet. There are plenty of companies that are built entirely on sustainable principles and practices that are far better collaborators in developing the cleaner, safer world that we envision.

If, according to the Chancellor’s statements in 2016, UQ has such a “small amount of investments in fossil fuel companies” then the decision to divest would be simple and inconsequential. If the university is committed to actions rather than gestures, then UQ’s fiduciary duty needs to be redefined within climate science.

In recent years, there has been growing momentum in the divestment movement; this year alone has seen UNSW divest here in Australia, two Ivy League universities, Cornell and Brown, the University of California (America’s largest university to divest to date), and one of the most prestigious universities in the world, the University of Oxford, among many others - recognising not only their moral responsibilities, but asserting that they are doing the “right thing from an investment perspective”.    

For UQ to remain invested in coal, oil and gas companies presents us with a paradox: If UQ seeks to 'create change' so they may achieve the brightest possible future, what does it mean for a university simultaneously to invest in the destruction of that future?