Dear President Leshin and Members of the Board of Trustees,

We, the undersigned members of the WPI community, are calling on you to lead the way in divesting Worcester Polytechnic Institute from fossil fuels.

COVID-19 has negatively impacted multiple aspects of the economy, and WPI is no exception. We recognize that our institution is enduring considerable economic losses in these trying and uncertain times. While the near future will be difficult, this crisis will not last. We implore that as you begin the recovery process, you consider reevaluating WPI’s investments. As we have already seen, fossil fuel corporations like ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and Shell have significantly devalued under the current circumstances. We can only expect that these corporations will face further economic uncertainty as the world seeks to address the global climate crisis, and our transition away from fossil fuels.

It is well known in the international community that anthropogenic climate change is driven by increasing carbon concentrations in the atmosphere. Climate change poses a significant future cost: environmental, economic, and human. Already, extreme weather phenomena are destroying infrastructure, crippling local economies, causing illness and death, and disproportionately harming the world’s most vulnerable communities. Entire ecosystems will be altered, contributing to the climate refugee crisis which the United Nations already faces. Thus, the climate crisis is a global problem, confronting us all. 

The International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) most recent special report, Global Warming of 1.5°C, details the efforts needed to limit climate change to 1.5°C above pre-industrial global average temperatures. [1] The Paris Agreement sets the international standard at 2°C, with the ideal goal of 1.5°C. [2] The IPCC recommends achieving carbon neutrality in less than 13 years to prevent irreversible climate change. Carbon neutrality will require strong changes to the way business is handled, and with that, our relationship with fossil fuels. 

In its 2019 Energy and Carbon Summary, ExxonMobil announced its plans to pursue a low-emissions future. [3] While companies and institutions sponsor research into carbon capture, biofuels, and low-emission technologies, including the Clean Energy Labs here at WPI, this is not enough. [4] Inevitably, a low-emissions plan still contributes to the total carbon concentration. The IPCC states that investment strategies will need to markedly shift to reflect carbon-neutral technologies. WPI has the opportunity to be a leader in this regard, by aligning investment strategies to match the international recommendations. We, as students, are told to think global, act local and divesting is one way we can make a positive impact that reaches beyond our immediate communities.

You might ask why divestment makes a difference. From the South African Apartheid to the tobacco industry, divestment on the institutional level has proven to be a powerful tool in pressuring social change. Often, responsibility to bring about change is placed on the people and their individual choices. But as history has shown, it takes large-scale systematic change for social, economic, and political transformations to develop and flourish.

Companies like ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and Shell promote politics that contribute to the climate crisis. They advocate for legislation that favors the continued and increased consumption of fossil fuels. They fund research and media that denies the impacts of carbon emissions. They lie to the public about what they know to be the truth and use their money to buy their way out of responsibility. So long as these companies have the means, they will continue to shape a world that prioritizes their own profits. 

By investing in this industry, WPI is condoning and supporting a carbon dependent future, which is contradictory to WPI’s stated mission of bettering the world we live in. When we invest, we vote with our dollars. We want WPI to vote for a net-zero carbon future, and that begins by rejecting the consumption of fossil fuels.

Moreover, fossil fuels are no longer the financial asset they used to be, even without considering the recent health crisis. Shares in fossil fuels are valued under the assumption that all of the current reserves will be used and replaced. But the fact is, at the current rate of consumption, we can only afford to use 20% of our reserves before we pass the point of no return. [5] It is the responsibility of the investment committee “to maintain the prudent and effective investment of the endowment” and it would be negligent of the committee to remain invested in a dying industry. [6] Fossil-free portfolios are seeing a greater return on investment and are easier than ever to attain. 

Already, nearly 220 universities have divested including Harvard, Brown, Georgetown, Stanford, Syracuse, and the UMass system. Campaigns on campuses across the nation are pushing for their institutions to divest, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Northeastern University, College of the Holy Cross, and Clark University. Not to mention the hundreds of other institutions divesting, like governments, pension funds, NGOs, and faith organizations. [7, 8]

We, students of WPI, see the world is evolving. It’s time we make a change as leaders in the global community and divest from fossil fuels.

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“WPI has a vital leadership role to play in addressing the increasingly urgent and complex challenges facing … the health and safety of our planet.” 
 

∼ WPI Strategic Plan

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We understand change does not happen overnight. We’re asking you to create a concrete plan for divesting in the next 5 years. We’re also requesting that you open a line of communication with students and faculty over the next month to discuss this endeavor. 

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Signed,
DivestWPI

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References

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1. V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, et al. “Global Warming of 1.5°C,” IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, October 2018, accessed March 1, 2020, https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

2. “The Paris Agreement,” UNFCCC, 2020 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, accessed March 1, 2020, https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

3. ExxonMobil 2019 Energy and Carbon Summary, accessed March 1, 2020, https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/-/media/Global/Files/energy-and-carbon-summary/2019-Energy-and-Carbon-Summary_archive.pdf 

4. WPI Clean Energy Conversions Laboratory Sponsor List, accessed March 1, 2020, https://users.wpi.edu/~jlwilcox/about.sponsors.html

5. “Unburnable Carbon: Are the World’s Financial Markets Carrying a Carbon Bubble?”, Carbon Tracker Initiative, Carbon Tracker Initiative, July 13, 2011, accessed March 1, 2020, https://www.carbontracker.org/reports/carbon-bubble/

6. “Investment Committee,” WPI, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, May 11, 2018, accessed March 1 20202, https://www.wpi.edu/about/leadership/trustees/board-committees-charters/investment

7. Go Fossil Free Commitments, accessed April 22, 2020, https://gofossilfree.org/divestment/commitments/

8. The database of fossil fuel divestment commitments made by institutions worldwide. Global Fossil Fuel Commitments Database. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://divestmentdatabase.org/