Fossil Free Warwick protest for Divestment

Protestors gathered outside senate house to petition the University to divest from fossil fuel companies on Thursday 12 March.

The peaceful protest, which had been organised by Fossil Free Warwick, happened an hour before Warwick’s summit on protest.

The protestors claimed that it was the University’s lack of democratic responsibility and disinterest in their student’s voices that had brought them there.

Fossil Free Warwick started this phase of their campaign in term two last year, when they proposed support for their on-campus campaign through a motion in the All Student Meeting. This motion passed with a majority of 531 votes.

Phoebe Demeger, a member of the movement and third-year English Literature student said: “It was when I came back from my year abroad last year that the movement really started to spring.”

The University has previously caused controversy amongst some students over its attitude to environmental issues by refusing to take part in an annual league table by People and the Planet. The league compares universities on issues such as their environmental sustainability.

In previous years, Warwick had routinely landed under the “failed universities” category as a result of its investment in fossil fuels and lack of development of any environmental strategy, amongst other reasons.

Despite this, the University claim that their research in green energy is an ongoing project which is aimed at making Warwick a “world-leading centre of excellence in Energy research”.

Peter Dunn, the head of Press and Policy at the University, claimed that although “fossil fuels remain a significant part of the UK’s energy mix… where universities such as Warwick can make a real difference in this area is in the research it carries out into low carbon energy solutions in energy generation, transmission and use.”

However, the speakers at the afternoon rally, which included Democracy and Development officer Rob Ankcorn, took issue with the University’s response to environmental issues and their lack of democratic sentiment towards students.

Photo: Karishma Gulranjani

In her speech to the gathered crowd and on an entry posted on the Warwick for Free Education blog, Ms Demeger explained how, despite being open to negotiation and making some ground in their requests, the University was still “stalling to take action.”

She took issue issue not only with the University’s disinterest in pursuing “a fossil free investment plan”, but also that they were ignoring student opinion on the issue.

Ms Demeger added: “Students are routinely finding themselves excluded from conversations they deserve to be a part of and are actively trying to initiate. This is not a model of a democratic university.”

Dan Goss, one of the rally attendees, claimed that the University “disregard our voices, a 1500 strong petition, an open letter from more than 100 faculty members, and official SU policy.

“Today, we expressed our frustration by demonstrating our collective will. We are loud, we aren’t going away, and we will take whatever action is necessary to play our part in combating catastrophic climate change.”

Speakers Sophie Monk and Chris Maughan also claimed that student voices were still not being heard and called listeners to more convincing action.

“If you are on the edge on this movement and thinking about whether you should get involved”, Maughan implored, “the work has already been done for you and you can’t say that.”

The rally ended with three protestors, whose faces were covered by scarves hanging a “Divest Now” sign and a banner bearing the word “fuckers” in various colours from the roof of Senate House, to which the crowd responded with much enthusiasm.

Maughan’s speech also called for more decisive action. He urged: “We now have the legitimacy to push back, to do things that speak loudly and to act in more extreme ways.”