The goal of the UW Divestment Coalition is to unite student organizations throughout the University of Wisconsin System to demand a just divestment from fossil fuels to combat the climate crisis. Over the next century, climate change will continue to affect the world we live in, including rising sea levels, longer, more intense heat waves, receding glaciers, and much more. These issues are already affecting Wisconsin agricultural systems, water bodies, aquatic and terrestrial species, increased flooding, and Wisconsin's infrastructure, harming Wisconsin residents' health and the overall livelihoods. We believe that the University of Wisconsin System is morally obligated to divest from fossil fuels. We should not be profiting from the climate crisis.
Divestment is the opposite of investment. It means removing investments in funds that are unethical or morally ambiguous. Fossil fuel divestment, specifically, refers to an immediate freeze on any new investments in fossil fuel companies and to divest from direct ownership or any commingled funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds. Students have the power to use collective action to increase social pressure on institutions to remove fossil fuel investments from their financial assets.
Our coalition strives to represent student groups, faculty members, alumni, and community members from around the 13 University of Wisconsin campuses. We are asking the UW System Board of Regents to use transparency and disclosure of all UW investments ending all new investments in the top oil, gas, and coal companies that hold the vast majority of oil, gas, and coal reserves. We ask them to sell existing investments tied to oil, gas, and coal in the next 3-5 years and start investing in clean energy solutions and our futures.
