Meet Fossil Free Research
Meet Fossil Free Research
A great new movement on campuses to further disengage from the fossil fuel industry
It remains an apparent taboo for many to say this directly – but the main cause of the climate crisis is – fossil fuel companies. They are now effectively at war with the rest of us (to paraphrase US climate scientist Peter Kalmus), even though we may not realise it. Every day, they are pushing the global climate system towards likely catastrophic outcomes in pursuit of a few more years of unearned and obscene profits. Though renewable alternatives, thank goodness, are growing at unprecedented speeds, these trends remain insufficient for keeping global heating within safer limits.
Some people may be uncomfortable with “blaming” a particular sector in this way, but even establishment politicians have begun to realise that it’s time to stop trusting this industry to change: former UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres wrote a recent oped in Al Jazeera explaining that, “I thought fossil fuel firms could change. I was wrong”.
Earlier this year, UCT students made the welcome suggestion that we collaborate to begin exploring the often all-too-deep links between academia at UCT and the fossil fuel industry – so that we can expose these ties, explore when where and how they compromise academic independence and the university’s progressive social mission, and work out when and where we can lobby to further erode the industry’s social license, access to human capital and research, and respectability.
What do universities have that the fossil fuel industry wants?
They want to shape the way climate change research is formulated and communicated to the public.
By funding academics, they ensure that academics are far less directly critical of them than they should be.
They want students to become qualified geologists and engineers and accountants and PR specialists, and to come and work for them, so they can continue racking up their outrageous profits.
As Ilana Cohen reports: “When academics and scientists take fossil fuel money, they are selling their integrity,” according to Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University. “The fossil fuel industry is more than happy to purchase the moral license that is gained by them when academics and scientists take their money.”
So what do we do, and how do we consolidate and build on the momentum of the global divestment movement that was an earlier mainstay of campus-based climate activism? We organise and collaborate: so, enter Fossil Free Research, a coalition of activists and researchers from US, UK and European universities researching the links between their institutions and lobbying for ending fossil fuel influence. Pledges of disassociation can be organised institute by institute and faculty by faculty, building momentum for a university-wide campaign/pledge.
I had a great call on Tuesday with Jake Lowe, director of Fossil Free Research, who shared some great opportunities to link our “Defossilising SA universities” project at UCT to a wider global movement:
Here, you can read background press releases and media reports on the movement.
This Google Drive folder contains Fossil Free Research reports on a university-by-university basis:
On 27 August 2023, there will be a big student meet-up to discuss actions planned over the next few months.
There’s also a Slack group of Fossil Free Research activists, and if you want to join that, please get in touch with us.
A key moment coming up soon is that Cambridge University will vote on its ties to the fossil fuel industry, this article provides some background: “As Shell and BP scale back their climate targets during a worsening climate crisis, the case for Fossil Free Research is clearer than ever” Bogdan Rajkov, a rep for the student group Cambridge Climate Justice, told Gas Outlook.
FFR also plan a global Day of Action on 27 October: possible teach-ins, marches and occupations.
We really encourage students at SA universities to link up with the Fossil Free Research movement, and start your own research teams to take action to lobby against this deadly industry. Do get in touch if you want support and information.