University funding from fossil fuel companies
Dear University of Portsmouth,
I'm writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) to ask that you please disclose to me any funding received by your institution from and investment portfolios which include fossil fuel companies (oil, gas, coal) over the last calendar year.
In terms of investment portfolios, I'm aware that over 65% of higher education institutions are now pledging or have begun to divest, and that endowments will no longer be available to entities with interests in fossil fuels totalling more than £17.6bn for these corporations, as per this Guardian article from last month:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/20...
However, I'll also direct you to this previous article, from December last year, which highlights that over the last 4 years UK universities still accepted £89 million from oil firms, and so this number for the last calendar year (2021-22) would be the most important.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Although if you could, please feel free to expand upon the parameters established when answering this previous question (I believe the original research would have been conducted by opendemocracy) and supply the updated figures from 2017 through to now - as this would be important in understanding an increase or decrease. For example, Imperial College London were found to have accepted £54m overall from companies, including £39m from Shell, and I'd like to see if high-profile donations, grants, and research funding (specifically into climate research) are still ongoing and to what extent.
Previous reporting states that while the companies and amount given could be listed, and have been, some specifics are not available - the two examples listed are highlighted in the following paragraph:
'Imperial said the confidentiality of private contracts meant it could not reveal exactly what the money was used for, stating that it funded research into “energy transition, lowering carbon emissions in extraction and in carbon mitigation measures”.
Cambridge University received more than £14m from oil giants, while Oxford got almost £8m. These include large donations to Oxford’s Said Business School Centre for Corporate Reputation.'
Previously the companies specified were BP, Shell, Total, Equinor, Eni, Chevron, Exxon (ExxonMobil), and ConocoPhilip. I'd like to also include (for ease of looking up) BHP Group, Enbridge, Chesapeake Energy, Petrofac, and Glencore. This would include gifts, research funding, sponsorship and grants.
I'd also like to know if either JP Morgan or Blackrock (specifically) have given any money to anything related to energy or climate research to your organisation over the last 5 years please.
Yours faithfully,
Max Colbert
The Citizens
Thank you for contacting the Information Disclosure team.
Please accept this email as acknowledgement of your correspondence.
We will respond again more fully within 2 working days of the date of this email at the most. Should you have any urgent concerns before then however, please feel free to ring the Student Complaints team on 023 9284 3110.
Dear Max,
I refer to your email of 29 November 2022 in which you submitted a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your request relates to
information concerning the cost of the recent rebranding exercise.
As you may be aware, the University has 20 working days in which to
respond to your request, however, the University closes on 23 December
2022. Therefore, I will respond more fully by that date, although if it
is possible to reply before then I will do so. Should you have any
queries before then, however, please feel free to contact me again by
replying to this email.
Yours sincerely
Nicola
Nicola Young
Complaints and Information Disclosure Officer
University of Portsmouth
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Co-Chair of the [1]Neurodiverse Network
Member of the [2]LGBTQ Staff Network and [3]Multicultural Staff Network
E: [4][email address]
T: 023 92 84 3103
W: [5]www.port.ac.uk
University of Portsmouth, St Andrew's Court, St Michael's Road,
Portsmouth, PO1 2PR
Please don’t take offence if I don’t reply to say ‘thank you’. If every UK
adult sent 1 less courtesy email a day, we’d save over 16,400 tonnes of
carbon a year – so, [6]think before you thank.
Dear Max,
I write further to your request for information, below, made on 29
November 2022 under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and
to my acknowledgement of 1 December 2022.
Having consulted my colleagues, I am now able to confirm that the
University does not hold a record of any relevant funding meeting the
criteria of your request.
I trust that this is the information that you require, however, if you
have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me by replying to this
email.
Yours sincerely,
Nicola
Nicola Young
Complaints and Information Disclosure Officer
University of Portsmouth
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Co-Chair of the [1]Neurodiverse Network
Member of the [2]LGBTQ Staff Network and [3]Multicultural Staff Network
E: [4][email address]
T: 023 92 84 3103
W: [5]www.port.ac.uk
University of Portsmouth, St Andrew's Court, St Michael's Road,
Portsmouth, PO1 2PR
Please don’t take offence if I don’t reply to say ‘thank you’. If every UK
adult sent 1 less courtesy email a day, we’d save over 16,400 tonnes of
carbon a year – so, [6]think before you thank.
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