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Hilary Term, Week 5 | Friday 16 February 2024
OXFORD STUDENT The University of Oxford’s Student Newspaper, Est. 1991
Oxford increased fossil fuel investments to £31.2m in 2022
T
Gaspard Rouffin
he University of Oxford has recently come under fire after its endowment fund increased its proportion of indirect investment in fossil fuels, less than three
years after setting its Net Zero target. According to the UN, fossil fuels account for over 90% of CO2 emissions contributing to climate change. The Oxford University Endow-
ment Management (OUem) is a £6bn investment entity representing the vast majority of the University’s generation of investment income. According to the University’s
Investigation into SU President drags on for fourth month Milo Dennison
Image credit: Cameron Samuel Keys
A
n investigation into the SU President, Danial Hussain, has failed to reach a resolution despite now being in its fourth month, while Hussain has been repeatedly targeted anonymously online. The SU has been conducting an independent investigation into an alleged incident that occurred when Hussain shared porn with staff through misuse of a Google Drive.
Yet more than three months later, Hussain is still suspended and the SU have not informed the student body of any resolution. When asked about this at Student Council, a statement given in Week 7 of Michaelmas was referred to, with no further update provided. Hussain has been harassed on social media, with anonymous accounts repeatedly posting derogatory statements and Oxfesses targeting him. Read more on page 5
targets. The 2022 report had a limited section on investment links to fossil fuels, stating: “Exposure is low with a total 0.52% indirect exposure to fossil fuels.” In its divestment decision in 2020, the University stated its fossil fuel investments only accounted for 0.6% of the endowment fund – with the proportion now being 0.52%, this means that total indirect fossil fuel investments have decreased by 0.08% in the last four years. At the time, the University described itself as a “world leader in the battle against climate change.” The 2021 and 2022 reports also highlighted a significant decrease in OUem’s ESG engagements, falling from 379 in 2021 to 275 in 2022. The University had approved a Net Zero target for 2035 as part of its Environmental Sustainability Strategy in March 2021. The Vice-Chancellor at the time commented: “The Oxford Endowment Fund has been actively managed for over a decade to be part of the solution to sustainability.”
Read more on page 4
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“Labour is sacrificing the desire for office for its principles, and this is a tragedy for Labour and the country”
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financial statements, only an estimated £4bn are Oxford University endowments, with the remaining £2bn being endowments from other actors, including many Oxford colleges. The share of fossil fuel exposure had been regularly decreasing since 2008 and represented 0.32% of all investments in 2021, but increased to 0.52% in 2022. Although these numbers are small, this means an increase in investments related to fossil fuels of around £12m in a year, reaching £31.2m in a year. Proportionally, roughly £1 of every £200 invested by the OUem goes to the fossil fuels industry. The OUem had an average nominal return on investment rate of 8.8% since it opened, meaning that ties to the fossil fuel industry could have generated around £2.64m of profit in 2022. The 2021 OUem report stated Read more on page 3 that it had “no direct holdings” in fossil fuel holdings, and that it had reduced its “indirect exposure to fossil fuels” to 0.32%, with a breakdown of where this exposure came from and the plans to achieve Net Zero
- Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg at the Oxford Union debtate “This House does not know what Labour stands for”