HARVARD STUDENTS STAGE OCCUPATION ON NATIONAL FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT DAY
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Cambridge, MA — Today, students in support of Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard organized a sit-in at University Hall as part of the National Fossil Fuel Divestment Day, a day of coordinated actions led by divestment campaigns across the world. Protesters peacefully occupied the building’s hallways between 4 and 5pm. The students sang, recited poems, and read statements made by faculty during their recent vote in overwhelming support of divestment. Members stated their demands of the campaign, including the most immediate: that the university divest all holdings in fossil fuels by Earth Day 2020.
Fossil Fuel Divestment Day is unprecedented in its scope. Students, faculty, and alumni from over 50 schools nationwide and across the world contributed to actions today from sit-in occupations of administrative buildings to artistic expressions on their campus landmarks. Harvard is indeed only one of these schools, all urging their respective administrations to finally divest from fossil fuels and begin the process of ethical, responsible reinvestment. Today, FFDH reiterates its core values: when we collectively refuse to be complicit in the face of climate injustice, we send a message of solidarity that cannot be ignored.
Faculty statements from the recent vote ranged from warnings about the economic risks of investing in a declining industry to moral condemnation of the administration for their failure to act. Ilana Cohen, a sophomore at Harvard College and organizer for FFDH further denounced the administration’s failure to act. “We know that fossil fuels don’t impact everyone equally,” stated Cohen. “And we know that while Harvard continues to invest in fossil fuel companies, it doesn’t treat everyone equally. In fact, it shows a fundamental disregard for our planet and all of life it supports.” The event was live-streamed on the group’s Facebook page.
Harvard’s fossil fuel divestment campaign, now almost eight years old, is calling on the university to disclose, divest, and reinvest its holdings in fossil fuels. By extrapolating from available information about Harvard’s $40 billion endowment (approximately only 2% of which is publicly disclosed), FFDH estimates that around $560 million is invested in coal, oil, and natural gas, though it’s likely much greater. By maintaining these investments, Harvard provides direct support for the aims and practices of the fossil fuel industry, which are directly at odds with a livable future. Industry executives have no incentive to cooperate with demands for change — in fact, their livelihood depends on the planet’s destruction.
It is unreasonable to expect real advocacy for progress from the people who are profiting most from stagnation. The idea that significant change can be made by working with industry executives and maintaining our investments has proven utterly ineffective. Conversely, the impacts of grassroots student activism are becoming apparent across the country: as recent victories from the University of California to Georgetown demonstrate, Harvard is quickly losing its window for climate leadership in the future. This, alongside the now overwhelming surge of faculty and student support at Harvard, makes the case clear:
Harvard must now turn to the right side of history — and must do so by Earth Day 2020.
