We, the University of Virginia community, vehemently oppose the University’s continued financial support of the fossil fuel industry. The fossil fuel industry - coal, oil, and natural gas - was responsible for 92% of all carbon dioxide emissions in 2019 alone. UVA directly contributes to these emissions by choosing to invest a portion of our $14.5 billion endowment in the industry. These investments exacerbate the climate crisis, which worsens existing inequality and violates Earth’s ecosystems and human dignity.

Our dollars are being invested and used to finance the principal cause of the climate crisis. Our endowment investments should reflect our values, not the unjust power structures that we publicly decry. It is long past time that the University upheld its duty to our community and the environment. UVA’s refusal to take a stand threatens our future.

We now demand the following from UVA:

We demand that UVIMCO release a transparent report regarding the extent of their current direct and indirect investments in the fossil fuel industry by December 1st, 2022

We demand a commitment to full divestment from companies whose primary source of profit is fossil fuel extraction and refinement by January 1st, 2023.

We demand that the University follow through on this promise with complete divestment from fossil fuels by December 31, 2023.

The below signatories express their support for divestment and agree to withhold all donations to UVA until the University has committed to divestment.

No Donation Without Divestment.