Edinburgh decides not to opt out of fossil fuels

The University of Edinburgh has decided not to divest from fossil fuels, but instead to “seek to help tackle climate change through R&D with companies in the fossil fuel sector and beyond”.

Writing in The Guardian on 12 May, Charlie Jeffery, senior vice-principal at the University of Edinburgh, said that a growing portion of the university’s research focused on climate change and its mitigation, for example, through carbon capture and storage. But this research intersects with work on fossil fuels and he said that the university would continue to collaborate with fossil fuel companies to develop research programmes and technologies that limit emissions and open up alternative energy sources. 

Jeffery also said there were alternatives to fossil fuels for electricity generation in the developed world, but not in the developing world or for the production of fertilisers, plastics and steel.