Fossil Free Australia
RIGHT NOW
Exposing the ties between our unis and the fossil fuel industry.
"It is immoral for those working for, or with, fossil fuel companies to make decisions that shape the future of young people at universities, while the companies they advise risk the future of young people by accelerating the climate crisis."
Photo Highlights
Time for our unis to disclose their meeting minutes regarding fossil fuel divestment
The shocking ties we found make us question just how much influence the industry has when it comes to deciding whether our universities should still invest in this rogue industry whose entire business model relies on cooking our planet.
Send a message to VCs to request their meeting minutes now - you can use the template below:
To whom it may concern,
My name is _________. After hearing about the paper released on Tuesday 19 Sep exposing the ties between Australian universities and the fossil fuels industry I have some concerns about how decisions around topics like divesting from fossil fuels are made in the university council/senate.
Would you be able to send me the minutes of meetings over the last year, and especially any where the subject of divesting the university's endowment from fossil fuels was explicitly discussed?
You can read see the report I am referring to by following the link here.
Yours sincerely,
________
Key Findings
Read The Report (RGB) Print The Report (CMYK)
Over the last four years, tens of millions of dollars have flowed into Australian universities from coal, oil and gas companies to fund projects through the ARC and ACARP funding bodies.
These projects have been linked to some of the largest fossil fuel companies in the world including BHP Billiton, Santos, Rio Tinto and Woodside Petroleum.
Counting any new or existing funding between 2013 and the present, UQ has received over $33 million, Newcastle over $15 million, and UNSW over $6 million.
Additionally, a number of council members and chancellors are currently advising, or were previously employed by companies whose main business is in fossil fuels.
Some of these ties include:
- University of Queensland Senate, Charlie Sartain: Former Queensland Resources Council Board Member, recipient of the Queensland Resources Council Medal.
- University of Newcastle Chancellor, Paul Jeans: 40 year career at BHP, previously a director of the Newcastle Port Corporation, one of Australia’s largest coal-exporting ports.
- University of NSW Council, Maxine Brenner: Origin Energy and Orica - Non-Executive Director.
- Monash University Council, Megan Clark: Rio Tinto - Non-Executive Director.
is a project of Fossil Free Unis.