MIT Administration To Host Unprecedented Fossil Fuel Divestment Debate
A classic debate, featuring six prominent climate change figures including Naomi Oreskes,about whether MIT should divest from fossil fuels.
On Thursday, April 9th, the MIT Climate Change Conversation committee, charged by MIT’s President Rafael Reif, will host “Should MIT Divest? A Debate on Fossil Fuel Investment”, to inform MIT’s decision as to whether to divest its $12.4 billion endowment from fossil fuel companies as part of its response to climate change.
The event will feature professors from MIT, Harvard and Stanford, as well as investment management experts, presenting both pro-divestment and anti-divestment arguments in a classic debate format. This is the fourth and final event of the MIT Climate Change Conversation, which was launched last September by President Reif in response to demands from more than 3,000 MIT students, staff, faculty, and alumni for divestment from fossil fuels. The administration has been in ongoing negotiations for two years with MIT’s student climate change action group pushing for divestment, Fossil Free MIT.
The Climate Change Conversation committee was tasked by President Reif to launch a campus-wide debate about what actions MIT should take in the face of the climate crisis, and is due to submit its final report with key suggestions by Commencement 2015. In turn, recommendations for a path forward will be made to the President.
The debate will also be screened via live webcast.
WHAT: Should MIT Divest? A Debate on Fossil Fuel Investment
WHO:
Moderator: Tony Cortese, Intentional Endowments Network
Naomi Oreskes, Professor of History of Science at Harvard University
Don Gould, Trustee Pitzer College & CIO Gould Asset Management
John Sterman, Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management
Brad Hager, Professor, Director of the MIT Earth Resources Laboratory
Frank Wolak, Professor of Economics, Stanford University
Timothy Smith, Director of ESG Engagement, Walden Asset Management
WHEN: Thursday, April 9, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
WHERE:
48 Massachusetts Ave
The debate will also be screened via live webcast.
Additional details are available here.