Why did we act?

  • Within the lifetimes of current Stanford students, the warming the planet experiences will produce mass migration, civil war, famines across the developing world, and severe economic strain worldwide. Much of this warming is caused by carbon emissions from human activity, primarily through burning of fossil fuels.
  • Stanford University, an institution of higher education, currently profits from the operations of fossil fuel companies. These companies have known the consequences of their product for forty years, yet buried the truth beneath lies and irresponsibility.
  • It has been decades since the tragedies of climate change first emerged. It's been three years since the Stanford community called upon Stanford University to divest from fossil fuels. Yet the University is still investing in the worst offenders. In order for Stanford's Board of Trustees to understand how important it is to act now, we are pledging direct action unless they divest now, when it could have the maximal impact. The Trustees are continuing to consider fossil fuel divestment, and we are hopeful that they will hear us and make the call to divest before the international climate negotiations that begin at the end of November. 
  • The U.S. Congress has proven to be a major barrier to effective international climate agreements. It is the responsibility of leading U.S. institutions to equip the U.S. negotiators in Paris with clear evidence that we are ready to close the door on the future of fossil fuels. By divesting from fossil fuels, Stanford can make the unequivocal declaration that the time of fossil fuels is ending.​​
  • Stanford has the unprecedented ability to help ensure international progress on climate at a time that the U.N. has deemed the “last chance for a binding international agreement on emission reductions.”


​If we miss this chance to act when the world is most ready, we will have failed to do everything we could.

Our Demand

We ask Stanford University to:
  1. Immediately freeze any new investment in the top 100 oil and gas companies, ranked by carbon content of their proven fuel reserves, and,
  2. Divest within five years from direct ownership in those 100 companies and from any commingled funds that include their equities or corporate bonds

Unless those 100 companies publicly commit to:
  1. Only burning 20% or less of their reserves, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has agreed is the maximum before we hit "dangerous anthropogenic interference with our climate system"
  2. Stop seeking new fossil fuel reserves, given that they already control five times the resources we can afford to burn
  3. Stop actively lobbying against national legislation and international agreements that would limit GHG emissions

The Stanford Community broadly supports divestment

  • More than 3,200 students, faculty, alumni, and community members have expressed support.
  • Last year, 75% of the Stanford undergraduate student body voted in favor of fossil fuel divestment.
  • More than 379 Stanford faculty have co-signed a letter calling on the administration to divest.
  • The Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU), the body representing undergraduate students, and the Graduate Student Council have both passed resolutions in support of fossil fuel divestment.
We enthusiastically welcome the support we have received from Stanford University faculty and alumni.