Tuesday 08-07-2025 - 16:34

 

 

‘A Climate and Ecological Emergency’ is what the University declared in November 2020.

 

 

This followed on from the record-breaking climate catastrophes of that year– a forest area the size of Great Britain burnt down in Australia, 1/3 of Bangladesh under water, displacing half a million people, and the most intense hurricane season in the Atlantic we had ever seen. 

This, a consequence of government neglect. It has necessitated youth-led, grassroots organizing to hold institutions accountable. Whether this is manifested as the occupation of coal ports, blockading of pipelines that’d otherwise rip through homes of indigenous people, or protests outside parliament or on the streets – we require community action to bring us away from this crisis.

Fossil Free Careers is one such campaign. Student campaigning groups from 13 UK Universities have won policy changes which end the employee pipelines from Universities to fossil fuel companies. These companies are the most responsible for the devastating effects of the climate crisis. They have known since 1954 that their economic growth is founded on exploiting and decimating the land of the global majority. They have proven that we cannot rely on them to make ethical decisions. We aim to cut off the life force of the industry, whilst supporting investments and innovation through student employment in renewable energy.

Fossil Free Careers Lancaster launched a petition in January 2025 which has been signed by over 150 students and staff. You can read and sign it here. 

The campaign has since won LUSU support, when the Union Assembly, the highest democratic body at LUSU, voted in favor of our campaign! This secures their backing to lobby University management to replace climate-wrecking industries with climate-friendly ones at our careers events and online platforms. This upholds both the SU and LU commitments to sustainability, justice, and equality.

With LUSU’s support, our campaign will focus on holding the University accountable for promoting the continued extraction of fossil fuels and consequent acceleration of the climate crisis. In 2021, Lancaster University committed to full fossil fuel divestment, acknowledging the harm that the fossil fuel industry. Now another important step needs to be taken: ending relationships with oil, gas, and mining industries in our career fairs.  
 
Education Officer 25/26, Liz Gillett, said: "An increasing number of students are turning away from careers in the fossil fuel sector, making student engagement more valuable to the industry than ever before. 

Limiting fossil fuel companies’ access to recruitment opportunities on campus is an important step in ensuring that our university does not contribute to the climate crisis or support the companies most responsible for it. We prioritise our members’ changing interests and fully support the Fossil Fuel Free Careers campaign, which was passed at Union Assembly. 

We encourage Lancaster University to present career opportunities that align with students’ ethics and values, and we condemn the notion that fossil fuel companies should remain an acceptable part of our society"

We call upon the university careers department to: 
1.        Refuse all new relationships with oil, gas or mining companies 
2.        Decline to renew any current relationships with oil, gas or mining companies after the contractually obligated period ends 
3.        Adopt a publicly available Ethical Careers Policy that explicitly excludes oil, gas and mining companies from recruitment opportunities
 

Can Fossil Fuel companies be sustainable?

There is a common argument that fossil fuel companies invest in renewable technologies. However, looking at the numbers, oil and gas company investment into renewable sources has been only 4% of their overall capital spending. Additionally, companies such as Shell have been found to be lying about how much they invested. Shell and BP investment into renewables has flatlined, emissions-cutting targets have been scaled back, and shareholder payouts are soaring. Renewable energy doesn’t have the profits that oil and gas return, and fossil fuel companies are turning away from them. Fossil fuel companies will not be the future of a planet that is livable. 

In addition, this hyperfocus on carbon neglects the other issues of fossil fuel companies. For example, Shell is responsible for over half a billion gallons of oil spilled over the Niger Delta. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, ecosystems devastated, freshwater poisoned – and the communities have seen little compensation. French company Total is building a pipeline running through Uganda and Tanzania. 400 villages will be impacted, displacing over 100’000 people, locals already being threatened and coerced into giving up their land. This is only the latest example of ecological devastation and human rights violations. There are hundreds more. 

 

How will job opportunities be affected?

The University’s duty in helping provide job opportunities means that any jobs stemming oil, gas, and mining companies that are present in careers fairs should and needs to be replaced with more sustainable and ethical ones. 

Isn’t this limiting free choice?

Our choices are already limited in various ways by various ethical standards. Many institutions do not allow tobacco companies to participate in their careers fairs, for example. The Fossil Free Careers campaign is simply asserting that planet-destroying industries don’t belong at a “green” university either. 

Can’t students just decide not to work for these companies?

Of course. This is not a call for individual students to choose this job or that job. This is an initiative for the university as an institution. Individuals and institutions have different levels of responsibility in addressing the climate crisis. This is a call for the university to stand by its claims and be a leader in de-legitimizing relationships with oil, gas, and mining companies, and moving towards the promotion of jobs and industry that are healthy for us and the planet.