September 24, 2021
Weekly Media Roundup – September 24
Welcome to this week’s Media Roundup: a curated digest of top stories and major developments in the climate finance space.
Read on below.
BU Today – Boston University to Divest from Fossil Fuel Industry
Boston University will divest from fossil fuels, starting immediately, President Robert A. Brown announced on Thursday, a decision reached amid increasing proof that burning fossil fuels is accelerating the harmful effects of climate change—and after nearly a decade of campus activism and protests. “This has been a long journey within the BU community and the Board of Trustees,” Brown told BU Today. “This is putting us on the right side of history.”
DevonLive – Devon to consider more divesting of pension funds from fossil fuels
Edie – Major UK pension funds among latest investors to join global net-zero commitment
ETF Trends – Texas Teachers Opt Into ESG for Pensions
Independent Catholic News – Archdiocese of Birmingham (UK) divests from fossil fuels
New Canaan Advertiser – Harvard’s decision to ditch fossil fuel investments reflects changing financial realities and its climate change stance
Harvard University will keep phasing out all investments tied to oil, gas and coal, it announced on Sept. 9, 2021. When Larry Bacow, the school’s president, announced this plan, he cast it as a response to climate change – part of a broader trend that’s gaining steam among many large institutions with endowments. Climate activists on and off Harvard’s campus called the announcement a victory in response to their yearslong campaign demanding fossil fuel divestment. Law professor Susan Gary of University of Oregon writes that this decision is a part of a bigger story.
The Philadelphia Inquirer – Million dollar investments from Penn, the city, and William Penn Foundation push us closer to climate crises (Opinion)
Philadelphia’s leaders said all the right things when Hurricane Ida’s remnants left us submerged, promising they understood that the storm was painful proof that our city is not safe from the climate crisis. But some of our most important and wealthiest institutions aren’t putting their money where their mouth is. The city’s pension fund, the University of Pennsylvania, and the William Penn Foundation collectively have about $24 billion invested in the markets. But they continue to invest big chunks of that money in fossil fuel companies like Exxon and Chevron, companies who are both the principal drivers of the climate crisis and the chief impediments to solutions.
Reuters – Canada’s third-largest pension fund beefs up plan to cut carbon emissions
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPP), Canada’s third-largest pension fund, announced on Thursday new interim targets to cut the carbon emissions intensity of its portfolio as part of a plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. OTPP, which manages C$227.7 billion ($180.11 billion) in assets, plans to reduce emissions intensity by 45% by 2025 and 67% by 2030, from 2019 levels.