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Dear Fossil Free SA supporter,
Have you taken a moment yet to engage with UCT's responsible investment panel (the UPRI) on the subject of UCT's fossil fuel investments?
This is a reminder that whether or not you are part of the UCT community, you can engage on the panel's call for opinions on fossil fuel divestment, for which the deadline is 14 May.
According to UCT, "as of mid-2020, fossil fuels exposure accounted for approximately 2.5% of the endowment’s total assets, and approximately 5% of its domestic equity exposure."
Our aim is to get UCT to embrace the Climate Emergency Investment Plan we proposed and that was endorsed by UCT's Convocation last December:
1. Publicly acknowledging the climate emergency, and acknowledging that the climate emergency demands dramatic shifts in investment practices.
2. Immediately diverting at least R300 m from the R7 billion UCT endowment to new fossil free, socially responsible SA equity fund/s; and divest offshore funds.
3. Working together with other SA universities and progressive investors such as philanthropies to foster further such funds.
4. Committing to complete divestment over five years.
We encourage you to support our aims in your response. We need the responsible investment panel to make the strongest possible recommendations in favour of divestment to UCT's Council and executive management.
We believe the panel is keen to avoid greenwashing. Your strong and carefully crafted opinions in favour of divestment will help them make their case. They are up against asset managers (like Allan Gray) and advisers who consistently argue, for example, in favour of continued "shareholder engagement" with fossil fuel companies, when there is no evidence (1, 2) that shareholder engagement is effective in getting fossil fuel companies (like Sasol) to change their core business models.
Thank you for your continued support!
David, Sarah, and the FFSA team
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