A campaign for university money to act in the interests of students, not against them.
UK universities have over £15 billion(1) that is frequently invested against the interests of students and the world they will graduate into. These investment decisions are often left to externally appointed investment managers with little engagement from the university itself. It’s time to change this.
We call on universities to:
Invest
in environmental and social justice solutions that have measurable, real-world impact.
Engage
with investments to influence wider corporate behaviour change.
Transform
governance to adopt responsible investment policies that support a sustainable future.
But what does this mean in practice?
Invest: Allocate 10% of investments to directly finance solutions to environmental and social challenges, such as renewable energy or social housing projects.
Engage: Use shareholdings (investments in companies) to engage companies and vote at AGMs for environmental and social justice, e.g. for company low carbon transition plans.
Transform: In consultation with students and staff, develop a radical responsible investment policy setting standards for investment manager reviews and appointments.
What we want:
Who we are:
Invest for Change is a campaign which aims to radically reform how universities invest their money, creating a more resilient and sustainable economy through investments. We support students to run campaigns on campus, as well as working directly with universities to lead this shift.
Our campaign is run by Students Organising for Sustainability UK, with support and expertise from our Steering Group, and funding from Friends Provident Foundation.
Get involved:
Get in touch to see how we can support you and your university to take action on Invest for Change.
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Check out our resource bank to help develop your Invest for Change campaign
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Book a workshop with us to learn more about the campaign, or start your campaign planning
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See if your university has a publicly available responsible investment policy and how you can engage with it
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Check out where your university stands on divestment, using People & Planet's fossil free scorecard
(1) The £15 billion figure is taken from a conservative estimate of current UK university endowment funds (figures from 2018/19 official audited financial statements) and based on the general assumption that majority of universities invest using their endowment funds.