Although the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust are the world’s largest funders of scientific research, between them they have almost £1.5bn invested in fossil fuels.
There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is caused by human activity. In order to avoid breaching international targets to keep global warming within 2C, the majority of proven fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground.
That’s why in March the Guardian launched Keep it in the Ground, an international campaign calling on the world’s largest charitable foundations to move their money out of fossil fuel companies that still plan on using these reserves and are actively looking for more.
Senior scientists have also made the call. Professor Anne Glover, who was chief scientific adviser to the European commission until last year, told us: “There’s an anomaly there. It is like giving with the one hand and taking with the other”.
The scientific community could be the most powerful voice of all in persuading the foundations that divesting from fossil fuels is the moral and rational decision. They care what scientists think about the role they play in the world.
Professor Glover agrees: “I don’t think [the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust] are organisations who don’t care about what people think about them. I think that they will listen. It really matters that people make their voice heard”.
Are you part of the scientific community? Do you believe the world’s most significant funders of science should move their money out of fossil fuels? Tell us why using the form below.
It matters to different people for different reasons.
Sir Bob Watson, former adviser to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told us: “The more people invest in fossil fuel companies, the more these companies will exploit fossil fuels.”
Professor Chris Rapley, former director of the Science Museum, said: “We have to confront our own inconsistencies. Either they accept the argument that we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels or they don’t. It’s highly symbolic when charities like this make a stand.”
The Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust have responded to the Guardian’s campaign. A spokesman for Bill Gates’s private office said: “We respect the passion of advocates for action on climate change, and recognise that there are many views on how best to address it. Bill is privately investing considerable time and resources in the effort [to develop clean energy].”
The Wellcome Trust’s director Jeremy Farrar says the organisation engages with the fossil fuel companies it has a financial stake in. “We understand the attraction of the grand gesture for which the Guardian is calling, but such a gesture can be made only once. By maintaining our positions, we meet boards again and again, supporting their best environmental initiatives and challenging their worst,” he said.
Whether you’re a science researcher, student, policy analyst, energy consultant or pharmacist, we want to hear about what you do and why this matters to you.
Scientists, tell the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust why we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. We will make sure they receive your responses. Thank you.
