University will continue to invest in companies connected to fossil fuels
Environment campaigners have attacked Edinburgh University for saying it will continue to invest in fossil fuel companies.
The university said it would prioritise its own carbon footprint and the companies it deals with but wouldn’t drop its investment portfolio which includes companies producing fossil fuels.
Companies instead will be required to report on their emissions and benchmark them against the best performance in their sector.
Professor Charlie Jeffery, senior vice principal said the university, will continue to take its lead through “research, teaching and knowledge exchange and helping society understand, manage and reduce climate risks”.
The university appears content to have its money invested in the world's most polluting companies - Ric Lander
He added: "The university will withdraw from investment in these companies if realistic alternative sources of energy are available and the companies involved are not investing in technologies that help address the effects of carbon emissions and climate change.”
However campaigners said the university had an obligation to provide a “moral lead”.
Ric Lander, Friends of the Earth Scotland finance campaigner, said: "The university has missed a clear opportunity to take a moral lead on tackling climate change and stand up for environmental justice.
"The university appears content to have its money invested in the world's most polluting companies, including Shell, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
"These companies are oil drilling in the Arctic and mining coal in virgin rainforest. Any investment policy which continues to allow investment in such irresponsible companies is not fit for purpose."
WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said the decision was disappointing and that the science was clear.
"It's disappointing that Edinburgh University has chosen not to join the growing number of organisations opting to divest from climate-trashing fossil fuels.
"The science is clear, to protect our climate the vast majority of known fossil fuel reserves must remain unburned and in the ground."
Last year, Glasgow University became the first in the UK to announce it would sell off the shares it holds in companies that produce fossil fuels.
