As part of our Sustainability Strategy refresh, University of Salford has updated its Treasury Management and Ethical Investment Policy to exclude investments in fossil fuels. The University does not invest in companies involved in the production and distribution of fossil fuels, which causes immense environmental damage and contributes towards the climate crisis.
The University is one of more than 100 UK universities to make a formal commitment as part of the Fossil Free campaign, run by a student-led charity People & Planet. UK universities and colleges can support the fossil fuel industry directly in three ways: through their research, investments, and partnerships. The Fossil Free campaign aims to challenge this, and the way the fossil fuel industry currently operates, by demanding that all UK universities:
- Exclude the fossil fuel industry from their investment portfolios.
- Introduce a publicly accessible ethical investment policy that excludes the fossil fuel industry.
- Commit to and fully divest from all fossil fuels within 3 years.
Our Fossil Free Scorecard can be viewed here.
The University has also been added to the campaign’s Fossil Free Victories page.
The University of Salford Director of Finance, Julie Charge, said:
“As part of our commitment to limiting the impact of climate change, we have worked with our advisors to update our ethical investment policy so that we now actively screen out investments in companies involved in explicit environmental damage, such as organisations involved in the production and distribution of fossil fuels.”
The University of Salford Sustainability Strategy is currently undergoing a review. The Sustainability Position Paper outlines our current thinking. We invite all colleagues and students to read it and share their feedback and suggestions using this form.