3rd Week HT24 Student Council

Divestment

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Mandate a Sabbatical Officer 
Proposer: Luca Di Bona, St. Hilda’s  
Seconder: Katrina Taylor, Jesus 

Student Council Notes: 

  1. In MT23, council passed the policy “Reform to the Ethical Code of Practice for Commercial Activities”, which restricts companies and organisations that the SU may “sell advertising space to; allow access to SU-organised events to; lend the SU name, logo, promotion or endorsement of any event which includes; or allow access to any SU-controlled physical or digital space” 

  1. The university works with organisations in a variety of ways, including careers, investments, and research contracts. 

  1. The careers service is responsible for determining which organisations it works with (for example inviting them to careers fairs). 

  1. The Committee to Review Donations and Research Funding determines which organisations the university accepts donations and research funding from. 

  1. Currently, this policy includes not accepting funding from illegal sources and tobacco companies. 

  1. It does not, for example, rule out funding from arms companies as the SU policy does. 

  1. The Investment Committee determines where investments are placed. 

  1. Policy currently allows for investment in arms companies, and indirect investment in fossil fuels and tobacco (ie investments in funds which partially but not primarily invest in these firms) 

 

Student Council Believes 

  1. The university should not attempt to recruit students to organisations that the SU will not work with on ethical grounds 

  1. The university should not accept research funding or donations from organisations that the SU will not work with on ethical grounds 

  1. The university should not invest in companies that the SU will not work with on ethical grounds 

 

Student Council Resolves 

  1. To mandate the President and VP Activities and Community to lobby the university to adopt the following as policy: that the university should not accept donations or research funding; invest in directly or indirectly; rent space to (including providing conference venues); or work with through the careers service (eg by advertising vacancies or allowing at careers fairs) from organisations that fulfil any of the following criteria: 

a. Companies or organisations that have been proven to take away the rights of the individual 

b. Companies or organisations that manufacture torture equipment 

c. Companies or organisations that manufacture any other equipment that is used in the violation of human rights 

d. Companies or organisations that derive (or should reasonably be believed to derive) more than 10% of their profits from the manufacture, transportation, sale, licensed production, or brokerage of armaments 

e. Companies or organisations that derive (or should reasonably be believed to derive) more than 10% of their profits from the extraction, transportation, sale, processing or brokerage of oil, gas or coal 

f. Companies or organisations that derive (or should reasonably be believed to derive) more than 10% of their profits from mining 

g. Companies or organisations that derive (or should reasonably be believed to derive) more than 10% of their profits from factory farming or the testing of non-medical products on animals 

h. Companies or organisations that are directly involved in the deportation of migrants 

i. The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom or any other country 

j. The Police Force of the United Kingdom or any other country, any Police Force operating in the United Kingdom or any other country 

k. The Intelligence Agencies of the United Kingdom or any other country 

l. Any other company or organisation which council makes policy to prevent the SU from having financial relationships with 

m. Any other company or organisation which a reasonable person would believe to be involved in unethical conduct 

n. For the avoidance of doubt, the Home Office falls under (h); the Department for Work and Pensions falls under (a); SIS/MI5, MI6, GCHQ, DI, NSA fall under (k) - see “Reform to the Ethical Code of Practice for Commercial Activities” for reasoning 

  1. To mandate the President and VP Activities and Community to lobby colleges to adopt the same policy, and to aid JCRs and MCRs in lobbying their colleges to adopt this, or part of this, policy 

  1. To mandate the President and VP Activities and Community to begin by lobbying for divestment from fossil fuels