Lund University has done some to divest, but not enough, representatives from the organization Fossil Free Lund University, FFLU, writes.
Fossil Free Lund (FFLU) would like to reply to the article in Lundagård about our demonstration outside the University Board meeting on 14 December 2015. It’s a late reply, but a very necessary one. We would like to address the statements of Vice Chancellor Torbjörn von Schantz, to make sure that there is no misunderstanding between us.
FFLU is a campaign group that is pushing for Lund University to divest completely from fossil fuels. As it is unethical to invest money in, for example, weapons and tobacco, we believe that investment in fossil fuels, the major driving force of climate change, is unethical as well.
It is true that the university made a commitment to divest parts of the purpose-bound donations funds in June 2015, which is great work! However, of the total LU funds, only the stock funds (aktiefonder) have been divested, representing around 30 percent.
The interest funds have not been divested. These funds are more difficult to divest due the fewer fossil-free alternatives, but that is something that is changing rapidly at the moment.
Most importantly, the trust funds that LU manages have not been divested and these funds amount to about 2400 million, constituting of 94 percent of the assets that the university manages. We are aware that the university does not have a large amount of fossil fuels in their portfolio as it stands today, but there is no regulation in place that will prevent this from changing in the future.
This was the reason for FFLU’s demonstration. We believe that it should be possible to accomplish a complete divestment over the next five years, which is what FFLU demands.
Lund University would not be the first to achieve a complete divestment. In Sweden, Chalmers University of Technology has divested, as has Stockholm University and Uppsala municipality. Vice Chancellor Astrid Söderbergh Widding at Stockholm University had this to say about divestment:
“Today it is fortunately possible to invest fossil-free without jeopardizing the overarching goals of our foundations, thus generating returns that can be used in education and research. Because of this, it is clear that Stockholm University must do so, given that sustainable development is so central to our education, our research, and our environmental work.”
FFLU would like to call on Lund University to take historical and present cases of divestment as an example, to find ways to fully divest both direct and indirect holdings. It will soon even be necessary, in light of Sweden’s commitment to become one of the first fossil free nations, and the UN’s recognition of a temperature goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
During a meeting 10th of February on Lund University’s strategic plan for 2017-2026, Deputy Vice Chancellor Bo Ahrén asked the audience what they wanted to be able to say about Lund University in 2026. FFLU hope to be able to say that Lund University acted as a leader in the transition to a more sustainable society.
Thanks to the university’s work so far, we are approaching that target.
FFLU is not standing against Lund University here. Rather – we are together in fighting for a better world.
Fossil Free LU
