The UEA has rejected a call from 95 of its academics to stop investing in companies with links to fossil fuels.

Its School of Environmental Sciences has an international reputation for climate change research, and 24 of its members were among those who signed an open letter to UEA vice-chancellor David Richardson.

It said: 'If we take climate change seriously, we must also acknowledge that for public institutions to invest in the fossil fuel industry is to give them the social license to operate'.

Chris Jarvis, of the Union of UEA Students, said: 'The time has come for UEA to take clear and decisive action against the industry that is responsible for causing and profiting from the climate crisis.

'Unless UEA ends its links with the fossil fuel industry, its reputation as a pioneer of sustainability, both in terms of research and practice, will begin to dissipate, as more and more people realise that it can talk the talk, but fails to walk the walk.'

A UEA spokesman emphasised its contribution to climate change research, and said it 'remains deeply committed to finding solutions to climate change'.

She added: 'Our Low Carbon Innovation Fund invests millions each year in companies developing low carbon technologies and the UEA campus boasts some of the greenest buildings in the UK – with the greenest, the Enterprise Centre, opening this year.

'We do not believe withdrawing UEA's limited investment from fossil fuel companies will make an effective contribution to the overwhelming necessity to reduce energy consumption, increase carbon capture, develop sustainable low carbon energy sources and mitigate the extent of global warming and the effects of climate change.'

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