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“We must act now as citizens, as academics and as an institution to address this crisis on as many fronts as we have at our disposal,” Bacow wrote. “I’m writing today to describe what Harvard has done – and will do – to ensure our community is fully engaged in the critical work ahead.”
Bacow explained that Harvard Management Company, which manages the world’s largest university endowment fund, currently has no direct investments in companies that explore or develop fossil fuel reserves, and that it does not have the intend to make these kinds of investments in the future. Although about 2% of his fund is still in investments in fossil fuel holdings, Bacow wrote that these are in “trickle-down mode” and will not be renewed once they end.
The announcement is being hailed as a major success by organizers on campus and beyond, and supporters of the wider movement hope Harvard’s announcement will fuel the growing divestment movement – and not just on college campuses. Already, states, financial institutions and private companies have joined the effort, in the hope that the decisions they make with their investments will pay dividends in the fight against the climate crisis. Given the size of Harvard’s endowment, its history of resistance, and its historic position as an institute, the decision to step down could have profound implications.
“The richest school in the world, which in 2013 pledged never to give up, was forced to capitulate,” wrote Bill McKibben, activist and leader of the divestment movement. series of tweets. “I cannot overstate the power of this victory. This will reverberate through the world around him.
In recent years, divestment as a leverage on fossil fuel companies has gained momentum. The concept is relatively simple: the less money fossil fuel companies have at their disposal, the more difficult it is for them to operate. The less fossil fuels we burn, the less extreme the consequences of the climate crisis.
In the academic world, the Cambridge, Oxford and University of California systems are among the notable ones who have taken the plunge. Earlier this year, the state of Maine ceded its pension fund – the first state to do so via a vote from its legislature – and similar measures are being debated or in the works in California, New York, USA. Minnesota and Beacon Hill.
Meanwhile, America’s six largest banks said last year they would not provide funding to fossil fuel companies to drill into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – a step that could be at least partially responsible for the flop. of a Trump-era oil rental sale. No major oil company bothered to bid.
Harvard University did not respond to a request for comment, and Harvard Management Company declined to comment. Bacow’s letter cited “undeniable evidence of the world to come” – from massive fires to record-breaking heat waves – and said that “without concerted action this dire situation will only get worse.”
Last year, the university announced that its endowment would reach zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This week’s announcement would appear to accelerate that decades-long timeline. According to Bacow, Harvard Management Company gave up its investments in fossil fuels for some time.
“Given the need to decarbonize the economy and our responsibility as fiduciaries to make long-term investment decisions that support our teaching and research mission, we do not believe such investments are prudent. “Bacow wrote.
Earlier this year, Harvard students, alumni and faculty filed a complaint with Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, claiming the university’s investments in fossil fuels violate a state law that dictates certain charitable responsibilities to all nonprofit institutions. Members of the Harvard divestment movement noted that some of the terms included in Bacow’s letter this week echoed what they argued in their complaint – perhaps a sign that the university feared the outcome of this lawsuit.
On Thursday, members of Fossil Free Divest Harvard – the student activist group that led the campus effort for a decade – said they were caught off guard by Bacow’s email.
“I was just coming out of social studies class and I just checked my emails and thought, ‘Oh my god,’ said Suhaas Bhat, one of the group’s main organizers. “I mean, I thought it would go on forever, and that I would be one person in a long chain of activists who have been fighting this forever. The fact that this has just happened is insane.
Bhat and his colleagues hailed the announcement as “an incredible victory”, but that doesn’t mean they are giving up. In an online response, the group listed three steps they want the university to take next: immediately phase out the remaining 2% of the investment; close the gaps in its net zero endowment pledge by 2050, with a greater focus on eliminating carbon emissions altogether; and stop allowing fossil fuel companies to fund university research and programming or to recruit on campus.
Elsewhere on campus, the tone of Bacow’s announcement frustrated some who have long supported the divestment movement. “The recklessness of dismissing the scientific, economic, political, legal and moral arguments of professors and students for a decade, then backing down and feigning leadership, is breathtaking but unsurprising.” tweeted Geoffrey Supran, university researcher.
He and others said the Harvard decision now sheds light on peers in academia who have resisted divestment, including Boston College, MIT, Princeton and Yale.
There are currently 166 active campus divestment movements nationwide, according to Divest Ed, a training and strategy center that assists the movements. Lead organizer Gracie Brett said Harvard activists heard “probably the most persistent ‘no’ anyone has ever received in the movement.”
It makes the change of air even more impactful, she said.
“It’s just a great roadmap for the rest of the divestment movement, that even if you get a ‘no’ if you have the power of the people and are persistent you can have the win,” Brett said. “And I think the implications for our movement will be huge. “
Sabrina Shankman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @shankman.
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