University of Glasgow is first European academic institution to divest from fossil fuel industry

From The Guardian:

Glasgow University has become the first academic institution in Europe to divest from the fossil fuel industry, in a turning point for the British arm of the student-led global divestment movement.

After 12 months of campaigning, led by the Glasgow University Climate Action Society and involving over 1,300 students, the university court on Wednesday voted to begin divesting £18m from the fossil fuel industry and freeze new investments across its entire endowment of £128m.

An elated Bill McKibben tweets:

With Glasgow news, divestment now firmly established in Aust., N.Am, and Europe. Hard to overstate how hard folks have worked--such thanks!

In the article from The Guardian, McKibben points to the symbolism of this coming from a university in a city that has as much claim as any to having given birth to the Industrial Revolution. A new revolution is building.

As of last month, more than 800 global investors – including foundations such as the Rockefeller Brothers, religious groups, healthcare organisations, universities and local governments – have pledged to withdraw a total of $50bn (£31bn) from fossil fuel investments over the next five years as a result of the campaign which began on college campuses in the United States three years ago.

That includes the World Council of Churches. Thirteen universities in the United States, including Stanford, have joined the movement, while the University of Edinburgh's consultation with staff and students found wide support, and Oxford is consulting with staff after nearly 2,000 staff and students called for the UK's wealthiest university to do the same. Students at London's Imperial College and University College also are demanding action. At Harvard, university President Drew Faust has rejected similar calls while cracking down on protesters.

A new revolution is building, and there's no time to waste. As Joe Romm wrote, earlier this week:

A major new study finds that “scientists may have hugely underestimated the extent of global warming because temperature readings from southern hemisphere seas were inaccurate.” In short, as New Scientist puts it, “it’s worse than we thought.”