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The University of Sydney has announced a review of its investment policies and said it will suspend investments in coal, following an outcry over $1m in shares it holds in the company behind the controversial Maules Creek mine.
The university on Wednesday confirmed it had issued an instruction to make no further purchases in Whitehaven Coal, or the coal and consumable fuel subsector of the ASX, while the review was under way.
At the end of June, Greenpeace wrote to the university’s vice-chancellor, Michael Spence, to criticise the Whitehaven investment. Greenpeace urged the university to divest the shares, saying it did not comply with the university’s own investment and environmental policies.
The policy states the university will “manage the activities over which it has control and which impact upon the environment in accordance with the principles of ecological sustainability”.
Whitehaven’s Maules Creek mine, in northern NSW, has attracted protests from the local community, who are concerned about destruction of the Leard State Forest, home to endangered species and native animals.
Environmental groups say the coal produced by mine will lead to 30m tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
“Whitehaven represents everything that is wrong with coalmining,” Greenpeace campaigner Nikola Čašule said.
“While this announcement from the University of Sydney is an important first step and a welcome one – because they are taking a leadership role and acknowledging these investments are unethical – the university still hasn’t made any commitment to divesting the $1m still invested in Whitehaven.
“We’re calling on the university to now take strong action and divest.”
An online campaign against the university’s Whitehaven shares had resulted in 18,000 emails sent to Spence in protest, he said.
