Universities have accumulated wealth from stolen labor and stolen land. Universities must redistribute and return their wealth to act in alignment with their purported mission and values.

The College Climate Coalition (CCC) and Divest Ed seek to not only divest from fossil fuel corporations, but to divest from white supremacy and the extractive, capitalist economy. We do this by materially (moving money) and ideally (committing ourselves to and organizing others towards personal transformation).

The campus divestment movement is also a reinvestment movement. We demand that universities divest from the destructive fossil fuel corporations, and also reinvest into local, community-controlled economies.

Fossil Fuel Profits are Immoral

It is wrong to profit from the wreckage of the planet. And the people who will suffer first and suffer the most from climate change—the Global South, poor folks, and BIPOC communities by and large have not contributed much to nor benefited as much from the pollution-based economy.

Meanwhile, the largest extractors of fossil fuels in the world, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell, have not used their profits to invest in a just and gradual transition off fossil fuels toward renewable energy like sun and wind.

Instead, they have used their wealth to fund and distribute junk science aimed at sowing doubt about the scientific consensus (which represents 97% of climate scientists) around climate change and to deliberately block, slow, and weaken policy advances through Congress, global treaties, and state legislatures.

Universities must divest

Divesting sends a message that such behavior is disreputable and not welcome in the mainstreams of society, and helps motivate climate action in government.

  • By divesting their endowments, Universities are delegitimizing and taking power away from the fossil fuel regime
  • Universities must return the wealth they accumulated through stolen land and labor
  • Universities cannot just divest from fossil fuel corporations, they must reinvest that capital in local, community controlled economies
  • The campus divestment movement is committed to dismantling the root cause of the climate crisis: colonial capitalism

Join the CAMPAIGN

We’re going to keep the pressure on until Chase completely stops funding the climate crisis.
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Are you involved in or interested in college divestment work? Email a Divest Ed organizer here.