Hobart, (20/02/2015): Fossil Free UTAS has welcomed the public announcement by the University of Tasmania (UTAS) that they intend to report their exposure to the fossil fuel industry under the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI).
The UNPRI is a set of six principles which guide investors towards transparent and ethical investment.
Fossil Free UTAS spokesperson Alexander Tomlinson said that under the UNPRI, UTAS is obliged to report its exposure to fossil fuels, tobacco, arms and munitions and forestry industries, as well as companies with lax labour standards or allegations of corruption by 31 March 2015.
“UTAS is a public institution which should be transparent about how it invests its constituents’ money.”
“The link between social and environmental harm and fossil fuels is clear, it is time for UTAS to divest from fossil fuels,” said Mr Tomlinson.
“It is good to see UTAS taking the first step towards divestment by confirming publicly that they intend to declare their exposure to the fossil fuel industry under the UNPRI.”
“We expect UTAS to disclose its indirect investments in the fossil fuel industry; that is investments that are managed by third party fund managers,” said Mr Tomlinson.
“We know that UTAS has a $253 million investment portfolio, of this $236 million is managed by third parties. Currently the allocation by industry of funds managed by third parties is not disclosed.”
“If we assumed a conservative exposure of 10% to the fossil fuel industry, that would mean $25.3m invested in the fossil fuel industry,” said Mr Tomlinson.
“UTAS has an opportunity to be leader on this issue by becoming the first university in Australia to divest entirely from the fossil fuel industry,” said Mr Tomlinson.
Alexander Tomlinson Website: fossilfreeutas.com act.350.org/letter/divest_UTAS Facebook: facebook.com/fossilfreeUTAS
