“While the University of Sydney claims to be green and ethical, they have invested $1 million of their endowment in the highly controversial coal company, Whitehaven Coal,” said Greenpeace Chief Executive Officer David Ritter.
“Surely Sydney University is smarter than this - Whitehaven Coal represents everything that is wrong with coal mining in Australia,” said Ritter.
“Right now, Whitehaven Coal is destroying endangered native forest, prime farmland, and Indigenous heritage sites to make way for a dirty new coal mine at Maules Creek in northern NSW. When fully operational, Maules Creek coal mine will accelerate dangerous global warming by contributing over 30 million tons of CO² per year – more than NSW’s entire transport sector.”
The University of Sydney Investment Policy states that funds must be invested in accordance with Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance principles. Its Environmental Policy states that the university will ‘manage the activities over which it has control and which impact upon the environment in accordance with the principles of ecological sustainability’ and ‘lead in defining best environmental practice’, commitments that apply to ‘all of its activities and at all its sites'.
“This investment directly contradicts Sydney University’s own policies,” Ritter said.
“Worse still, money from the University of Sydney – which prides itself on respect for Indigenous Australians – has been used by Whitehaven Coal to bulldoze Gomeroi cultural heritage sites to make way for the Maules Creek mine.”[2]
Gomeroi spokesperson Dolly Talbot said: “The Gomeroi elders and community are shocked to find that the University of Sydney has shares in a company such as Whitehaven Coal when this company has caused so much pain for our Elders and community. The Sydney University has a respected reputation for supporting Aboriginal people. To find that ethical sponsorship is not at the forefront of the University's decision making is upsetting, shameful and extremely disconcerting,
“How can the university claim to respect our culture when the destruction of our culture and heritage and the trauma created for our community is our lived reality? We ask the Vice Chancellor to urgently reconsider the university's support and make a stand on ethical shareholding,” said Talbot.
Farmer Cliff Wallace, whose farm lies next to the Maules Creek Mine site, was dismayed to hear the university was invested in Whitehaven Coal: “I thought people who went to university were smart but there’s no sense in digging up prime farmland and draining water reserves to build a short-lived coal mine.”
Local ecologist Phil Spark said: "An esteemed institution like the University of Sydney should be aware that its investment in Whitehaven Coal is systematically destroying some of Australia's most rare and endangered woodland habitats. I implore the university to cut all ties with Whitehaven and stand up for the hundreds of native species - including threatened species of birds, mammals, and bats - who call these woodlands home."
“The University of Sydney needs to live up to its own ethical investment policy and green image by immediately selling its shares in this controversial company,” Ritter said.
For more information or interviews contact, Elsa Evers 0438 204 041 or Nikola Čašule 0428 769 307
Images and video:
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[1] Personal correspondence from Vice Chancellor Dr Michael Spence on 8 August 2014 confirmed Whitehaven Coal shares make up 0.1% of the University’s long term investment fund. This equates to roughly $1 million worth of Whitehaven Coal shares.Long term fund investments are made for at least seven years.