{"id":6127,"date":"2014-10-17T06:43:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T06:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=6127"},"modified":"2014-11-05T11:26:55","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T11:26:55","slug":"ahead-of-the-game-in-glasgow-well-up-to-a-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2014\/10\/17\/ahead-of-the-game-in-glasgow-well-up-to-a-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead of the game in Glasgow \u2013 well, up to a point"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a small macflurry of \u00a0excitement on the Clyde this\u00a0week as the University of Glasgow<\/a> announced it was to sell its shares in Big Oil. \u00a0This is what the university had to say:<\/p>\n

Glasgow becomes first UK university to divest from fossil fuel industry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Glasgow today became the first university in the UK to commit to fully disinvesting from fossil fuel industry companies. \u00a0This commitment is subject to reassurance that the financial impact for the University is acceptable, the detail of which will be monitored by the University\u2019s governing body, the University Court. \u00a0Full divestment will mean the reallocation of around \u00a318 million of current investments over a 10 year period. \u00a0The decision was made after a period of consultation by an independent working group taking evidence from the Glasgow University Climate Action Society and the University Investment Committee. \u00a0David Newall, Secretary of the University of Glasgow Court, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University recognises the devastating impact that climate change may have on our planet, and the need for the world to reduce its dependence on Fossil Fuels. \u00a0Over the coming years we will steadily reduce our investment in the fossil fuel extraction industry, while also taking steps to reduce our carbon consumption.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are, perhaps, 3 things to note about this:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong> \u2013 this, if it happens, will take 10 years.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong> \u2013 it will only happen if the university at least breaks even.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong> \u2013 there is a lot of difference between \"fossil fuel industry companies\" [ first line ], and \"the fossil fuel extraction industry\" [ last line ]. \u00a0Which is it, I wonder. \u00a0I note that it's definitely not: \"industry that draws benefit from fossil fuels\". \u00a0That would<\/em> be a rash\u00a0move.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anyway, good to see Glasgow's being so bold \u2013 sort of. \u00a0Meanwhile, all kinds\u00a0of outfits are associating themselves with this shift. \u00a0The Independent<\/a> reports\u00a0WWF Scotland\u2019s director, Lang Banks (sic<\/em>), as saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to see the students and academics of Glasgow leading the way.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And, as I write, the price<\/a> of a barrel of Brent crude is ~$86.<\/p>\n

November 4th Update<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

See this<\/a> to read about some of the fall-out from this decision, and this<\/a> for a USA perspective. \u00a0Looks as if it might take even longer than planned. \u00a0NB, a barrel of Brent Crude is now ~$82.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a small macflurry of \u00a0excitement on the Clyde this\u00a0week as the University of Glasgow announced it was to sell its shares in Big Oil. \u00a0This is what the university had to say: Glasgow becomes first UK university to...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6127\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}